The U.S. government's National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) and Amazon on Tuesday announced the launch of a joint operation to prevent counterfeit goods from entering the Untied States and help protect consumers.

According to the announcement, the joint operation will analyze data and conduct targeted inspections aimed at preventing counterfeit products from entering the U.S. supply chain. The IPR Center and Amazon will leverage evidence obtained during the operation to expand on-going investigations, to hold bad actors accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

This operation will be led by Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit, which was created earlier this year to support law enforcement investigations and to initiate civil litigation against counterfeiters, the company said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and DHL are also supporting the operation.

"The IPR Center plays a critical role in securing the global supply-chain to protect the health and safety of the American public," said IPR Center Director Steve Francis. "However, our efforts are increased with partners like Amazon to identify, interdict, and investigate individuals, companies, and criminal organizations engaging in the illegal importation of counterfeit products."

"By combining intelligence from Amazon, the IPR Center, and other agencies, we're able to stop counterfeits at the border, regardless of where bad actors were intending to offer them," said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon's vice president of Customer Trust and Partner Support.