Cops: Store sold fake designer goods


John Ruch

EGLESTON SQ.—Super Mario Special Sneakers at 3115 Washington St. was selling sneakers that were not really that special because they were counterfeit designer-label goods, according to the Boston Police Department (BPD), which raided the store on March 5.

Officers allegedly found more than 450 counterfeit items falsely marked with such designer names as Gucci, Polo, Chanel and the National Football League. The alleged counterfeit items were mostly clothing, though the inventory also included three bottles of fake Lacoste perfume, according to BPD.

Mario Cabral, 51, of Jamaica Plain and Daniel Cabral, 42, of Roslindale will be summonsed to court on charges of “crimes against property,” according to BPD. No one answered the store’s phone number when the Gazette called this week.

Officers executing a search warrant during the raid also found the store to be in an alleged “substandard condition” and ordered an inspection.

It was the second police raid at Super Mario in two years. In 2008, the store was among five local businesses raided in “Operation Barbershop,” a massive effort to break up an illegal gambling ring.

At least two Super Mario employees faced charges in the gambling bust.

“The target at Super Mario [in the 2008 gambling raid], Hilberto ‘Flaco’ Caraballo, is currently in default on his case after failing to appear at a 2008 court date,” said Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, in an e-mail to the Gazette this week.

The 2008 raid was described as a surprise by Egleston Square activists, especially because Super Mario had signed a petition calling for an increased police presence in the area.

Detectives at the local E-13 Police Station are still investigating the alleged counterfeit merchandise case. They are urging anyone with more information about designer-label knock-offs to contact them at 617-343-5628.

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