Lewiston, N.Y. (WBEN) - Customs and Border Protection agents have seized two medals purportedly from the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Agents say those medals were counterfeit.
CBP Spokesperson Jeff Toth says agents came across a shipment at the Lewiston-Queenston crossing in May. They were listed as two souvenir medals.
"When we dove into that shipment a little bit further, we discovered that they were actually two Olympic medals from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics," said Toth with WBEN.
He says agents reached out to subject matter experts within CBP and asked some questions to verify whether these were actual legitimate medals. Those answers led them to determine that they were counterfeit.
Toth says this is a first for him in his 24 years at CBP.
"We have seen not too long ago, some championship rings that came through our Rochester airport. It was a similar kind of idea, we reached out to the subject matter experts to get their expertise in determining that they were also counterfeit," Toth explained.
Homeland Security will take over the investigation.