DEA: Narco-drones not major smuggling concern, but could help set up attacks on agents
When Mexican authorities discovered a small, unmanned drone carrying about six pounds of methamphetamine that had crashed about two miles from the U.S. border, it raised a lot of concerns among observers of the drug trade that this new technology will make it more difficult to hunt down narco-traffickers and easier for smugglers to get their illicit products into the United States.
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Rising smuggling challenges market monitors
The trading of smuggled and counterfeit goods in HCMC is on the rise, challenging local market monitors, according to the city’s market monitoring agency.
The agency said in a report released on December 30 that most of the goods were consumer goods, equipment and spare parts imported illegally from China.
Last year, the agency inspected nearly 7,200 sites, up 104.69% compared to the year earlier and detected more than 5,490 violations, including over 1,700 cases related to smuggled cigarettes with nearly 640,000 packages confiscated.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/120208/rising-smuggling-challenges-market-monitors.html
Lear MoreFake Apple Watches appear on eBay
Fake Apple Watches appear on eBayFake prototypes of the Apple Watch have begun selling on eBay for absurd amounts of money. This week, the so-called prototypes have been listed on the auction site and sold for hundreds of dollars. Questionable descriptions and clearly non-Apple product designs gave away the fact that the prototypes were fake, yet people have been duped into buying them anyways.
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Khalil foils attempts to smuggle kids medicine, evade customs fees
Authorities foiled Tuesday a number of attempts to evade customs fees and smuggle illegal products into Lebanon, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil said.
“Powder is being brought in and then turned into medicine for children, which is illegal and unhealthy,” Khalil told reporters after he arrived at the airport’s storage rooms.
Global Anti-counterfeit Packaging Market 2015-2019
Anti-counterfeit packaging is the process of providing a secure packaging to products to reduce counterfeiting or imitation. The packaging not only helps companies to reduce losses incurred because of counterfeiting but also improves the safety of packaged goods. Governments in various countries are taking strong measures to stop counterfeiting by spreading awareness among consumers as how to identify the counterfeit products. The practice of counterfeiting is widespread in developing countries as consumers are unaware about the process of product authentication.
TechNavio’s analysts forecast the Global Anti-counterfeit Packaging market to grow at a CAGR of 16.23 percent over the period 2014-2019.
How Product Placement Took Over Science Fiction, From E.T. To Star Trek
These days, product placement is an accepted part of science fiction. We’re used to seeing big brands splashed all over every TV show and movie about aliens or the future. But it wasn’t always this way. Here’s the quick-and-very-dirty history of how on-screen advertising became a science fiction mainstay.
Science fiction helped to invent product placement, with Steven Spielberg’s shoehorning of Reese’s Pieces into E.T., making them the official candy of penis-fingered growly alien visitors.
http://io9.com/how-product-placement-took-over-science-fiction-from-e-5061426
Lear MoreCCFI slaps legal notice on FSSAI for issuing organic certificate, logo
The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) recently issued a legal notice to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for issuing organic certificates and logos to companies caught cheating consumers.
In the notice, the federation alleged that the country’s apex food regulator let fake, wrongly-labelled and misbranded organic products deceive millions of people.
http://www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=36640§ionid=1
Lear MoreProposal would hike Kansas’ cigarette tax to 11th highest
If Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal goes through, Kansas’ taxes on a pack of cigarettes would jump to the 11th highest in the nation. Kansas currently charges 79 cents in tax per pack of cigarettes. Brownback proposed raising that to $2.29 as part of his plan to deal with large projected deficits. State revenues are expected to fall $280 million short of expenditures in this fiscal year, and $436 million short in the next fiscal year.
http://cjonline.com/news/business/2015-01-20/proposal-would-hike-kansas-cigarette-tax-11th-highest
Lear MoreThe notorious industry: comparing foreign vs. local tobacco brands on the Arab street
One of the most prolific industries currently operating in the Middle East and North Africa is big tobacco. This market seems immune to the roller coaster that is business life in the region, hardly affected by the socio-political risks that tend to keep investors at bay. While major tobacco product importers, such as British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Philip Morris International, dominate the market, there in fact exist several competing local players vying for their share of the pie. Here is a look at some of the national Middle Eastern manufacturers, their role in the local markets they operate in and their outlook in the near term.
In 2014, Lithuanian Customs pulled contraband cigarettes from funeral wreaths, potato sacks
According to preliminary data, in 2014 the officers of the Lithuanian Customs seized smuggled and illegally carried goods worth over EUR 15 million. The amount of prevented damage to the state exceeds EUR 10 million euros, the Lithuanian Customs said in a report, cites LETA/ELTA.
Tobacco products remained last year the most popular smuggled commodity. Last year, the customs officers seized 16 million packages of cigarettes and 3 tons of tobacco worth EUR 13 million. The amount of tobacco seized in 2013 was similar: 117 million pcs. of cigarettes and 1.6 tons of tobacco.
http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=101253
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