Through various operations organised by Mexican customs authorities and police, over 1.1 million pairs of shoes—of which at least 400,000 had been smuggled into the country—were seized in 2005, 5% more than in 2004.

The smuggled merchandise was seized at points along the borders and in several shopping centres, most of which had been manufactured in China.

The volume of counterfeit shoes seized in 2005 also increased 19-fold when compared with figures for the previous year. A total of 708,152 pairs of counterfeit footwear were confiscated. However, of the 418 cases of counterfeiting reported to the authorities, only four resulted in custodial prison sentences.