Man smuggled cigarettes inside lorry load of frozen onions
A man who smuggled cigarettes into Britain inside a cargo of frozen onions has been locked up.
Marius Majchrzak, 43, was arrested at a storage unit in Manchester containing more than 600,000 cigs. He was carrying a black and silver electronic fob that controlled the roller shutter doors to a unit on Derby Street, Cheetham Hill.
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Tobacco smuggling clampdown at waterport Terraces
Customs officers have moved to clamp down on tobacco smuggling in the area of Waterport Terraces.
The Government says it has received reports of illicit activity in the estate, and therefore Customs has immediately started an operation to clamp down and investigate who might be responsible.
The Chief Minister says the Government has acted to ensure that it has taken out of Glacis and Laguna the anti-social behaviour related to illicit tobacco activity, and will once again act without hesitation to curtail any such activity in the Waterport Terraces area. HM Customs operations have started today and will continue until this activity is curtailed.
http://www.gbc.gi/news/tobacco-smuggling-clampdown-waterport-terraces-32660
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Tobacco smuggling burns hole in the revenue’s tax take
An increase in smuggling and the ban on displaying tobacco products in shops has led to a substantial decline in Treasury duty revenues.
According to Revenue & Customs, tax revenues in the 2015-16 tax year fell by almost 1 per cent, from £9.55 billion to £9.48 billion, while revenues from March to May this year fell by 3.5 per cent to £2.38 billion.
Tax on cigarettes has been rising at 2 per cent above inflation since 2010 to cut smoking rates and improve health.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tobacco-smuggling-burns-hole-in-the-revenue-s-tax-take-zfm36gbxp
Lear MoreMeghalaya police holds awareness programme over counterfeit products
To counter the alarming growth of counterfeit products entering the market in the state and country, the Meghalaya police in collaboration with Hindustan UniLever Limited (HUL) organized an awareness programme to sensitize the police personnel in identifying such products.As per data presented during a programme at Sadar Police Station on Wednesday, in 2014 there were 3.2 billion counterfeit products being manufactured and 3.5 billion in 2015.Speaking at the programme, HUL, Regional Legal manager for East region, Gaurav said, “Counterfeit products have affected the economy of not only the country but the state as well because no tax will be paid on the products and the person manufacturing such products will not pay excise duty.” He, however, said that such company or proprietor involved in manufacturing counterfeit products can be taken to task under CRPC and Trademark Act.
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US Officials seize 65m in counterfeit goods in Pureto Rico
Special agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations, working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, on Wednesday seized $6.5 million in counterfeit merchandise in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, the ICE said.
The officers targeted 14 retailers selling goods that they say infringe on the trademarks of Gucci, Michael Kors, Prada, Chanel, Ray Ban, Coach, Dolce & Gabbana, Oakley, Nike and the National Basketball Association.
First-time offenders accused of violating intellectual property laws were served with a notification of a violation of law, while repeat offenders will be prosecuted by the HSI, the agency said.
http://www.retaildive.com/news/us-officials-seize-65m-in-counterfeit-goods-in-puerto-rico/422291/
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Novel Research: Illegal cigarettes trade in Romania soars to 16.9pct in May
The cigarettes smuggling increased in May 2016 to a market share of 16. percent, as compared to 14.6pct in March, show data released on Tuesday by Novel Research.The North-Est region ranks first in cigarettes smuggling, with a black market share that beats the past seven-year record, exceeding 50 per cent.
Following are the South-West and West regions, with important shares (26pct and 25pct, respectively). From the origin point of view, the weight of the “cheap whites” is increasing (+3.8pct against March) and continues to hold the market’s highest share (57.4pct) of the total black market. On the other hand, the products from Moldova are down (minus 4.5 percentage points from March, until 14.7pct), while those from Ukraine and Serbia maintain a constant level (20.4pct, respectively 3.4pct).
Huge armoured tank crushes fake Raybans and pirated DVDs in crackdown on counterfeit goods in The Philippines
It was an unusual sight but an armoured personnel carrier was used to destroy pirated DVDs during a ceremonial destruction of confiscated counterfeit and pirated goods in The Philippines on Monday.Rather than helping with crowd control or the like it was put to better use by helping to crush the contraband goods at the main police headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon city, Metro Manila.Government workers also used rollers to destroy the counterfeit sunglasses and other pirated materials. Filipino workers then collected the crushed piles and put the debris into rubbish skips.
Lear MoreGRP steps up drive against liquor smuggling
The special drive of the Government Railway Police (GRP) against inter-State smuggling of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and narcotic substances via special trains is continuing in full swing in major railway stations in the district.
GRP squad members said they had seized around 102 litres of IMFL and 50 kg of banned tobacco products within just 60 days of the launch of the drive. Three persons have been arrested andcharged under various sections of the Kerala Abkari Act and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act.
Sub Inspector B.K. Siju, who heads the squad, said the seized products including liquor and tobacco were worth Rs.1.40 lakh.
“Besides tracking instances of smuggling, our team has succeeded in booking around 102 persons who were found travelling in an inebriated state and causing nuisance to fellow passengers,” he added.
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Retailers seek tobacco tax freeze amid smuggling concerns
The pre-budget submission by Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has highlighted its concerns following latest figures from the Revenue Commissioners which show that customs officers have so far this year seized illicit tobacco which, if sold, would have resulted in the Exchequer losing €15.8m in tax — approximately €5m more than the same period last year.
RAS said that in order to prevent any further damage to small and medium businesses in Ireland, it is calling for a moratorium on further excise increases until such increases can be proven not to encourage smuggling.
Chennai: Delivery boy steals 12 Iphones worth Rs. 5 lakh, replaces them with fake ones.
As per reports, B Naveen, a 21-year-old delivery agent, working with the e-commerce giant Flipkart, has been arrested for allegedly stealing 12 iPhones worth 5 lakh. The whole incident surfaced when Flipkart grew suspicious about the iPhones being returned in bulk over the last one month.
The delivery boy, incharge of the delivery area Washermenpet, used to replace iPhones with fake phones. Naveen used to place the orders using fake addresses and after replacing the phones with the dummies, he used to return the parcels to the company. The delivery agent used to state the reason of customer dissatisfaction, whenever he was asked to explain the returning of the phones.
An enquiry committee found that the phones that were returned were fake and were returned mainly from Chennai courier office, where the delivery agent used to work, said reports.A police complaint was then filed by the warehouse owner Vetriselvam.
Naveen, who completed his graduation from a college in Kodungayur, had been working in north Chennai area from the past six months.
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