Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, with state, local and Coast Guard assistance, spent the day at the All-Star Game. But instead of being inside watching the game and the crowd, they were outside busting street vendors who were selling knock-off hats and jerseys.

It’s all part of the agency’s effort to crack down on the phony merchandise that, according to General Accounting Office estimates, costs U.S. industry a quarter-trillion dollars each year, draining untold millions from the coffers of the major sports leagues. In the days leading up to the All-Star Game, working alongside city and state police and the U.S. Treasury Department, agents utilized more than 120 surveillance cameras that ringed the ballpark, NOAA satellite reconnaissance from the heavens above, as well as seven Coast Guard helicopters and another from the Michigan state police to seize almost 700 bootleg shirts and 500 caps, along with several hundred fake or illegally scalped tickets. They cited dozens of vendors and arrested at least three more. The cost of the raid may be staggering, but Moskowitz sees it as important work. — ESPN

So Immigration and Customs Enforcement is responsible for copyright infringement now, huh? Sure, fine, go bust the bootleggers if you must. But aren’t there more important things to be doing, like securing the border and keeping terrorists out of the country? Let’s have some priorities here.

(Via Hit and Run)