Toure Apparel exists in a parallel universe where selling fake merch is cool and grillz are still in style.At the risk of sounding heartless, it’s a bit tough to feel bad for anyone who was allegedly taken in by Mohamed Toure.Toure, along with nine other local men, was recently charged with counterfeiting by King County prosecutors following a two-year-long investigation into a massive local knockoff apparel ring. According to court documents, the ring’s members have since at least 2008 been treading on their customers’ (also read: victims) naive belief that authentic, high end sneakers and handbags can be purchased at deeply discounted prices. The anecdotal and predictably contrary response: Hell no they can’t. Shouts the fake Louis Vuitton bag buying masses: “Duh.” According to court documents, a sting operation conducted in May of 2008 found Toure, of Toure’s Apparel on Rainier Avenue South, allegedly selling pairs of fake Air Jordans and luxury handbags. Undercover police also conducted “buy-busts” at the various other local storefronts and street-corners from which the other members of the ring allegedly sold their own fake merchandise. Court documents say that at EB’s Fine Handbags on 4th Avenue, the “proprietor” told an undercover officer that the Kate Spade bag hanging on the wall was real, despite the fact that it, like the rest of the authentic luxury handbags in stock, had no tag or logo. Mahammadu Drammeh and Abubakarr Sesay were arrested in April 2008 after police spotted them on Alaskan Way selling Coach brand handbags–which even on the low end sell for an average of $300–for just $50. All told, police seized an estimated 40,000 items, which according to police would have netted the conspirators around $18 million on the street, though how they arrived at that figure is a little unclear. Even if they charged $200 for each of the 40,000 items seized by police, they’d net just $8 million, not even half of the cops estimate.