North East family gang smuggling £750,000 of tobacco sentenced
A gang of North East smugglers, including four members of the same family, has been sentenced today after their £750,000 tobacco smuggling ring was stopped by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).The gang of 10, led by Michael Linney from South Shields, was caught out when HMRC officers intercepted parcels containing illegal tobacco, which were being delivered to addresses across South Tyneside.Also involved were: Michael Linney’s wife, Victoria Linney, his daughter, Kirsten Jane Linney, Grant Smith, Justin Sheriff, Glenn Paul Chrisp, Leonard Clouston, Lee Ellison, and Paul Anthony Lowery, all from South Shields, as well as Michael Linney’s son, Kris Michael Linney, from Jarrow.
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Counterfeits bulldozed in Swiss awareness campaign
Switzerland’s Stop Piracy group publicly destroyed 15,000 tonnes of counterfeit watches and two tonnes of illicit medicines last month as part of an awareness-raising campaign.The ‘destruction derby’ – which took place in Berne on October 21 – was designed to tie in with the ongoing ‘We subsidise criminals’ media campaign that aims to make consumers aware of the organised networks behind counterfeiting.
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The true cost of cheap tobacco on the streets of Plymouth
TOBACCO smuggling is supporting criminality in the city and “robbing taxpayers of millions”. In the last 12 months, Trading Standards officers in Plymouth has seized nearly £13,000 worth of tobacco and cigarettes. Each year HMRC and Border Force prevent billions of cigarettes and hundreds of tonnes of illegal tobacco entering the UK. While some non-UK duty paid (NUKDP) tobacco is brought into the country legitimately by smokers returning from abroad for their own consumption, some is smuggled into the UK solely for illegal sale. This illegal activity is undertaken by individuals, right through to organised criminal gangs (OCGs).
Lear MoreGerman national arrested after 2.5million cigarettes seized at Tilbury Docks
A GERMAN man was arrested at Tilbury Docks on suspicion of smuggling 2.5 million cigarettes into the UK.The haul, worth around £580,000 in lost revenue, was seized by HM Revenue and Customs on Monday The 36-year-old was arrested after detection by Border Force officers.The Gold Mount cigarettes had arrived from Zeebrugge in Belguim.Jennie Kendall, spokesperson for HMRC, said: “This was a substantial haul of illegal cigarettes, destined for sale on UK streets through black market profiteers.
Lear MoreStriving towards balanced tobacco regulation in Nigeria
The recent public hearing held by the Senate to gauge the views of stakeholders in the tobacco industry towards passing a legislation regulating the production and consumption of tobacco products in Nigeria brought together stakeholders across the tobacco debate divide. It was a mix of various groups representing interests on both sides of the tobacco debate.The debates were robust as all the stakeholders – the anti-tobacco coalition on one hand and the tobacco industry, including British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International, on the other – were given the opportunity to state their views on the bill under consideration.
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Issue Directive on enhancing the tobacco smuggling
On September 30th, 2014, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 30/CT-TTg on enhancing the tobacco smuggling.According to the Directive, In order to gradually stop and tackle the tobacco smuggling, trafficking, concealment and trading of illegally imported tobacco, the Prime Minister orders The Ministry of Industry and Trade to direct the Market control forces to enhance the management of domestic market, regularly inspect wholesale or retail outlets of the illegally importer tobacco in order to quickly detect and tackle with violators; cooperate with the Police forces in inspection at such outlets; Take charge and cooperate with relevant authorities in amendments to the Joint Circular No. 36/2012/TTLT-BCT-BCA-BTP-BYT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC dated December 7, 2012 on decreasing the amount of packs of illegally imported tobacco as the basis for criminal prosecution.
Lear MoreInterpol: Organized crime, aware of weak points, targets counterfeit drugs
Organized crime has moved into selling counterfeit and compromised prescription drugs in Europe, exploiting the mishmash of customs laws and weak points in some border protection. Those weaknesses allowed the “Mafia” to get fake manifests, use suspect wholesalers, and sell counterfeits of Roche’s ($RHHBY) Herceptin and other cancer drugs across Europe. “You can see the Mafia people saw the opportunity to make money and they know that pharmaceutical crime is one of the good havens for them right now because of lack of legislation and the complexities of coordination in countries,” Aline Plancon, head of Interpol’s pharmaceutical crime unit, said at a conference in Ireland Wednesday, Medical Xpress reported.
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Couple sentenced to prison for taking bribes, smuggling items into prison
A former Three Rivers prison guard and his wife will serve time after pleading guilty to smuggling contraband into the prison, according to a U.S. attorney’s office news release. Joel Gonzalez was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison and his wife, Lisa Gonzalez, was sentenced to 10 months, the release states. They also were sentenced to three years probation upon release. Joel Gonzalez said from December 2012 to April 2014 he took bribes from an inmate and smuggled tobacco and other items into the prison with the help of his wife, the news release states.
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California health and child-welfare agency may seek increase in tobacco tax
An earlier headline on this article incorrectly stated that First 5 California is urging an increase in the tobacco tax. The agency is considering options but has not endorsed a proposal. Under preliminary consideration are proposals to push state lawmakers to tax “e-cigarettes” or increase existing taxes on tobacco products — and even to snag a share of any tax revenue from legalized marijuana sales if California decides to go that route.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-tobacco-tax-20141120-story.html#page=1
Lear MoreCigarette smuggling racket exposed
According to SA sources, trucks full of cigarettes worth millions of dollars have been shipped into that country illegally, through official as well as undesignated crossing points, for resale in SA and beyond. Established in 2004 as a locally registered company, Savanna Tobacco, of which Molai is the proprietor, has been manufacturing the Pacific brand of cigarettes targeted at the low end of the market through low pricing.
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