Sales of cigarettes at duty-free stores encouraging smuggling: civic groups
Several civic groups yesterday urged the government to halt sales of duty-free cigarettes at the nation’s airports to put an end to the rampant practice of people buying large quantities of tax-exempt tobacco products and selling them to youngsters for a profit.
“Since last year, we have been receiving anonymous complaints that a growing number of tobacco brokers, duty-free shop employees, airport workers, or tourist guides have taken advantage of the nature of their professions to buy large quantities of duty-free cigarettes abroad or at the nation’s airports and smuggle them into the country,” John Tung Foundation chief executive officer Yao Shi-yuan said yesterday in a press release.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/10/04/2003601247
Lear MoreSmuggled cigarettes and alcohol found in Derby shop
A DERBY store could be stopped from selling alcohol after its director was convicted of smuggling.
The city council has said that Redas Norgaila, director of Zolushka, Becket Street, pleaded guilty in May to smuggling tobacco, cigarettes and alcohol. Now the authority’s trading standards team has called on its general licensing sub committee to review the store’s licence to sell alcohol. It could revoke or suspend it, modify conditions, or remove the designated premises supervisor – currently Ilona Dalisanskaite.
Lear MoreCIDG operatives seize fake, smuggled goods worth P500M
Counterfeit and smuggled goods worth more than P500 million were seized during a two-day operation launched by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Manila. Director Benjamin Magalong, CIDG chief, said operatives of the CIDG’s Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Unit, under Senior Supt. Bartolome Bustamante, led the operations against seven big warehouses in Tondo on Oct. 2-3. Magalong said the raids were made jointly with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, the Bureau of Customs and the National Bureau of Investigation.
Lear MoreFlight attendant jailed for tobacco smuggling
A FLIGHT attendant has been jailed for carrying out a €230,000 tobacco smuggling operation between the UK and Spain. Dennis Connolly has been handed a 21-month jail sentence for masterminding a cigarette smuggling operation by using his staff discount privileges to pay for flights. The easyJet flight attendant was heavily in debt after he took to online gambling to deal with the grief of losing his boyfriend to pancreatic cancer in 2007.
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Philip Morris targets illegal tobacco trade
Manufacturer trialling education programme for independents as survey shows the use of illicit tobacco products by consumers has doubled in Manchester in the last 12 months. Tobacco company Philip Morris is using its newly created sales force to trial an education programme for 250 independent retailers in Manchester after research found 20% of cigarettes smoked in the north-west of England were contraband.
Manchester has been chosen to trial the programme after Philip Morris test purchasers in the city were able to buy illicit tobacco products on 32 separate occasions over a three-day period – more than in any other location during 2014. A separate survey of discarded cigarette packs in Manchester by brand protection agency MSIntelligence showed the use of bootlegged, smuggled or counterfeit cigarettes had doubled in the city in just over a year.
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Customs arrests 26 smugglers over N322m contraband goods
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) recorded 98 seizures of contraband goods valued at N322 million in September 2014. The command also arrested 26 smugglers in connection with the illegal imports. The Customs Area Controller of the unit, Dimka Victor David, who made the disclosure in Benin said the seizures were made in the South East and South South geo-political zones of the country.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=84502
Lear MoreMore than P500M counterfeit and smuggled goods seized at Manila
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) seized more than Php 500 million worth of counterfeit and smuggled goods in different areas of Manila in a two-day operation (October 2 and 3, 2014), the CIDG Director said. Police Director Benjamin B. Magalong stated that the operations conducted by the detectives of the Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Unit (AFCCU-CIDG), headed by PSSUPT Bartolome Bustamante, along with the representatives of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPO PHL) , Bureau of Customs (BOC) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), were covered by a Warrant of Seizure and Detention issued by General Mendoza of the Bureau of Customs wherein the said governmental agency has the authority to seize and forfeit products as vested by the Tariff and Customs Code.
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P500M worth of smuggled goods seized in Tondo raid
MANILA, Philippines—Police seized about P500 million worth of smuggled goods in a raid in Tondo, Manila on Friday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said. Chief Inspector Elizabeth Jasmin said operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group seized the smuggled goods during the raid on seven warehouses along Rivera Street in Tondo. The confiscated goods consist of Sony batteries, children’s products, perfumes, and other items, Jasmin said. She said the CIDG would coordinate with the product’s brand owner, saying the seized goods were suspected of being counterfeit.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/642449/p500m-worth-of-smuggled-goods-seized-in-tondo-raid#ixzz3FjylsKXm
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P500M worth of smuggled goods seized in Tondo raid
MANILA, Philippines—Police seized about P500 million worth of smuggled goods in a raid in Tondo, Manila on Friday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said. Chief Inspector Elizabeth Jasmin said operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group seized the smuggled goods during the raid on seven warehouses along Rivera Street in Tondo.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/642449/p500m-worth-of-smuggled-goods-seized-in-tondo-raid#ixzz3HiPBb9z3
Lear MoreHandbags, Legos among more than $500K in fake goods seized at Houston-Galveston seaport
Expensive handbags and children’s toys were among the hundreds of phony items from a shipment seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Houston-Galveston seaport. The more than 200 counterfeit handbags and nearly 50 packages of plastic building blocks had an estimated retail price of more than $500,000. The items were seized on Sept. 29.
“Intercepting counterfeit goods protects the trademark holder, the unsuspecting consumer, and strengthens the U.S. economy,” said Houston CBP Area Port Director Dave Fluty. “Import safety and protecting intellectual property rights are priority trade issues. We will take every opportunity to intercept counterfeit goods entering through this port.”
http://world.einnews.com/article/227286457/iOeW-OiP4joRWxQG
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