Fake computers, medicines and designer clothes coming through California`s seaports drain about $8 billion worth of tax revenue from state coffers each year, the head of the Board of Equalization said Tuesday.

The illegal funds are usually channeled through a so-called underground economy of organized crime gangs to fund illegal human, drug and gun smuggling operations, said Jerome Horton, chairman of the state Board of Equalization.

"Not since the days of Al Capone have they been so organized and robbed the state of California and the United States of so many funds," Horton said during a news conference at the Port of Los Angeles.

Horton said he supports a measure by state Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, that would allow the state`s nine tax agencies to investigate and combat smuggling efforts.

If ultimately approved, the pilot program also would investigate those accused of tax evasion, fraud and other so-called "off-the-book" activities. Price`s Senate Bill 1185 was approved by the state Senate and is now being considered by the Assembly.

"We must capture the billions lost to the underground economy by creating a concerted and comprehensive effort to protect our state`s signature industries and California`s consumers and taxpayers," Price said in a written statement.

After arriving at ports, counterfeit products are usually sold by vendors at flea markets, independent shops, swap

meets and online, said Port of Los Angeles Police Chief Ronald Boyd. Signs to look for include low prices or skewed trademark logos.

Additionally, items such as black-market cigarettes and medicine could pose serious health risks to unsuspecting consumers, Boyd said while pointing to several confiscated items displayed at the port.

Over the past three years, the Los Angeles County Sheriff`s Department`s Counterfeiting and Piracy Enforcement

Team, composed of three investigators, has seized about $320million worth of knockoff designer products and arrested more than 200 suspected smugglers and counterfeiters.

"And we are barely scratching the surface," sheriff`s Cmdr. Todd Rogers said. "The bottom line is, if the deal you`re being offered seems too good to be true, then you`re probably buying a fake and hurting us all in the process."

art.marroquin@dailybreeze.com

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