Brockton cops and Homeland Security raided a strip club authorities say was peddling fake Red Sox and Patriots gear in exchange for lap dances and seized the counterfeit goods — part of a growing problem that one expert says is not necessarily a victimless crime.

Employees at the Foxy Lady Brockton were wearing some of the knock-off sports teams shirts when investigators showed up for the strip club sweep Friday afternoon and found about $10,000 worth of counterfeit gear, said Brockton police Lt. Paul Bonanca.

“We seized various boxes of sports shirts,” Bonanca said. “The same jerseys sometimes sell for $200 at the store.”

Bonanca told the Herald the club bought the poor-quality rip-offs for $3 to $5 each and then sold them to customers for $10 or as a free souvenir with two lap dances. Bonanca said the owner, who was cooperative, will likely receive a court summons for possession of counterfeit goods.

Strip club owner Frank Caswell declined comment, citing Homeland Security investigators.

“I was instructed not to speak to anyone about this,” he said.

The Homeland Security Investigations unit at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been cracking down on counterfeit goods in recent years.

“We have seen instances related to counterfeit goods where the money derived from those criminal activities go on to fuel criminal activity overseas,” said ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls.

Not everyone who is involved in counterfeiting merchandise is affiliated with crime rings, but many criminals — from street gangs and Mexican drug cartels to Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood — have exploited the counterfeit markets, said Kris Buckner, president of Investigative Consultants, a company paid to probe intellectual property crimes.

“These criminal organizations are telling their street soldiers to use counterfeit goods to raise funds,” Buckner said. “It just creates a huge opportunity for these organized crime groups to make massive amounts of money and face a little amount of exposure.”

Counterfeit goods, including handbags, jerseys, food items and coupons, are a $500 billion annual business globally and account for up to 8 percent of the U.S. marketplace, according to Buckner.

Walls cautioned consumers to beware of falling victim to counterfeit goods — especially this time of year.

“Obviously if a price is too good to be true, it probably is,” Walls said. “More often than not, you’re not going to find authentic sports memorabilia at a gas station or sold out of a trunk of a car, and the quality is sometimes far inferior with counterfeit goods.”