"It is the worst I have seen in Canada" said Lorne Lipkus, a Toronto-based lawyer who works for over 50 multi-nationals fighting the illegal trade.

He accompanied a police team which raided the Richmond night market on Vulcan Way on Aug 13 and found a whole array of fake goods ranging from pirated CDs to fake printer ink cartridges to Louis Vuitton and Prada knock-offs.

Lipkus said about seven people were questioned by police in relation to the counterfeit goods.

The next day, an investigation by The Asian Pacific Post found many of the items identical to that seized by police were back on sale at the night market stalls.

In addition there were fake Tommy Hilfiger socks, Adidas shirts, Channel sunglasses, Duracell batteries, Pokeman and Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

"It is just incredible but we will keep going after them," said Lipkus, adding that it is not only the manufacturers that are being targeted.

"We will be going after sellers and those who organize such events," warned Lipkus who works with the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition.

He said in addition to loss of revenue, several items being sold at the night markets were dangerous.

Lipkus pointed to toys with choking hazards, electrical equipment without proper safety inspection stickers and children's clothes and blankets that had no fire-retardant material.

Anti-piracy experts said the big money now is in counterfeit ink cartridges many brands of which were going for a song in Richmond's night market.

The fake cartridges bearing the brands Epson, Lexmark and Canon contain toxic ink that could cause serious damage to the face and eyes.

Cuddly toys have also been found stuffed with sawdust and sweepings while several stalls were selling fake circuit breakers and substandard power bars that were produced for pennies in China and Mexico.

Lipkus and police have reiterated several times that the counterfeit products provide a huge cash turnover and capital for organized gang activities and terrorism.

In one case alone last October, over a million dollars in counterfeit brake pads and shock absorbers were seized in Lebanon. The cash from the sale of the fake goods were meant for Hezbollah.

Neither Raymond Cheung, the organizer of the Richmond Night Market or Diamond Liu of the Chinatown Night Market in Vancouver returned calls to The Asian Pacific Post to talk about the counterfeit goods being sold at their bazaars.

In fact the availability of the knock-offs at the night markets have now become a major selling point with teens talking about them on Internet chatrooms.

The Richmond Night Market outstrips the one in Vancouver in terms of size attracting over 100,000 people every summer with over 250 stalls.

The main sponsors of the event include the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Richmond.

Tourism Richmond's director Rob Tivy in a recent media interview said he felt very positive about the event.

"It gives our visitors a taste of Asian night life in a style that is unique," he was quoted as saying.

Vancouver police recently told a media conference that they believe there are at least three major counterfeiting operations in the city that may have ties to national and international counterfeiting rings.

They estimate that the knock-off market in Greater Vancouver is between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Speaking on condition of anonymity "because I don't want to upset the politicians", a Vancouver area police officer said somebody has got to be asking question as to the responsibility of the city council that is issuing permits for these night markets.

"These guys even pay for policingit is kind of ridiculous to see the fake stuff being sold openly by merchants who have rented stalls and pay for crowd control," he said.

"On one hand we say that counterfeit goods provides money for organized crime activities and terrorism on the other we are issuing permits the people who want to sell them..go figure," he said.

He said the summer markets are not the only culprits as fake goods are the mainstay of flea markets and in some smaller shopping malls.

The Calgary-based Gieschen Consultancy said anti-counterfeit enforcement activity around the world and in Canada last month alone netted over C$56 million in seizures.

More than 169 incidents were analyzed. It was found that for each crime the estimated losses were $332,385, involved 9 individuals and the seizure of 48,392 counterfeit items.

Overall the results indicate that 1,472 individuals from 36 countries, accounted for the seizure of 8,178,480 counterfeit items worth more than $56,173,026.

In summarizing the months activity, Glen Gieschen, Managing Director of Gieschen Consultancy stated "The summer also provides an opportunity to sell counterfeit merchandise at seasonal markets and outdoor locations such as concerts and sporting events where it is easy for counterfeiters to set up booths or mobile stores."

It could not be immediately determined if the raids on the Richmond Night Market were included in the analysis.