-The “designer” goods merchants on Canal Street

Tourists flock to Canal Street, a broad thoroughfare in Chinatown, to purchase counterfeit items (particularly handbags, sunglasses, watches and perfumes) bearing designer names including Coach, Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and Chanel. If you are considering a shopping trip to Canal Street, you should know that these items are illegal, and their production and sale are not victimless crimes. Worldwide, law enforcement authorities (including Interpol, US Customs, the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group and the European Union) all agree that counterfeit and pirated products are (a) associated with money laundering and the exploitation of child labor and (b) account for much of the money the international terrorist network depends on to feed its operations. Buy a fake bag, support terrorism. Is that really what you want to do on your vacation?