Customs Agents Seize $16 Million of Chinese Counterfeits in Texas.
U.S. customs agents recently seized more than $16 million worth of counterfeit goods in Laredo, Texas, a shipment that originated from China and was possibly smuggled through Mexico, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The fake goods, totaling almost 79,000, included designer clothing, electronic goods, and athletic shoes mimicking Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Adidas, Nike, Apple, and Sony, an ICE press release on May 21 stated.
Special ICE agents conducted the seizure on May 17 after surveilling a public storage facility in Laredo, where people were transferring boxes from a leased storage unit into pickup trucks and vans with Mexican license plates.
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P5.3 B worth of fake goods – mostly cigarettes – seized in Q1
Most fake or counterfeit goods confiscated by the government in the first quarter of the year worth at least P5.3 billion were cigarettes and cigarette production equipment, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said.
In a statement on Wednesday, IPOPHL said the value of the seized goods in the first three months of the year has already reached more than half of the total value of fake goods confiscated for the entire year in 2017, which reached P8.2 billion.
The spike this quarter – a triple-digit growth from the same period last year – was primarily attributed to the P5 billion worth of cigarettes and cigarette production paraphernalia seized by the government.
According to IPOPHL, these were mostly the products seized by the Philippine National Police from a factory in Bulacan in February.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/993578/p5-3-b-worth-of-fake-goods-mostly-cigarettes-seized-in-q1
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Revenue officials seize 45,000 cigarettes at Dublin Airport
Revenue officers have seized 45,000 cigarettes at Dublin Airport.
The seizure was made on Monday, when a passenger who had arrived from Nigeria via Frankfurt was stopped and searched at the airport.
The Benson & Hedges branded cigarettes had a retail value of €27,000, and would have represented a potential loss to the Exchequer of €21,375 if they had got through undetected. The passenger who smuggled the cigarettes, a 35-year-old Nigerian man, was subsequently arrested.
He appeared before Judge Bryan Smyth in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court earlier today, when he was remanded in custody to Cloverhill until May 28, when he will be brought before the Court again.
In a statement, the Revenue said that the majority of people pay the right amount of tax and duty on imports, and said this seizure was made as part of ongoing operations against illegal cigarette smuggling.
https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/revenue-officials-seize-45000-cigarettes-14692868
Lear MoreGold and cigarettes seized at airport.
KOCHI: The Intelligence Wing of the Customs Department at the Cochin International Airport seized 1,227 grams of gold, 13.77 kg of Indian tobacco and 20 cartons of cigarettes in the past one week.
Starting from May 9, Customs officers made three gold seizures and intercepted smuggling of Indian tobacco and cigarettes.
The intelligence officers of Customs seized 13.77 kg of tobacco valued at Rs 30,600 which was concealed in a checked-in baggage. The seizure was effected from a native of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh who was departing to Doha on May 5. Similarly, on May 12, 233 grams of circular gold rods valued at Rs 7.42 lakh was seized from a Malappuram native who arrived from Doha.
In another case, two gold chains weighing 151 grams valued at Rs 4.81 lakh were seized from a persons hailing from Malappuram who arrived from Dubai on May 13.On May 14, 20 cartons of cigarettes valued at Rs 30,00 was seized from a Kozhikode native who arrived from Dubai.
Lear MoreDRI, Assam Rifles seize 12 kg gold smuggled from Myanmar in Manipur
Department of Revenue Intelligence sleuths and Assam Rifles troopers, in a joint operation on Thursday, seized over 12 kg of gold valued at Rs 3.62 crore in Manipur, said a release.
The raid, conducted on the basis of specific intelligence developed by DRI, unearthed gold from the India-Myanmar border at Moreh.
The joint team stopped two vehicles at Khudengthabi travelling from Moreh towards Imphal for checking, and found gold biscuits hidden inside the front and rear tyre of both cars.
Two persons have been apprehended, the DRI release said. The gold has been seized under the Customs Act.
DRI is the lead agency to combat cross border crime involving smuggling of gold, consumer goods, drugs and narcotics, wild life articles, Fake Indian Currency Notes and counterfeit goods, import-export frauds and trade based money laundering.
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Two Chinese men accused of smuggling 40 kg gold detained
CHENNAI: Customs officials on Tuesday said they detained for questioning two Chinese nationals after an unclaimed bag containing 40kg of goldbars worth 12.6 crore, apparently left by the duo, was found in a toilet at Chennai international airport.
The two middle-aged men, who had arrived in the morning by Cathay Pacific Airlines flight CX 631 from Hong Kong, were not carrying any checked-in baggage and may have panicked on seeing the tight vigilance protocol at the airport and after hanging around the airport for a while would have left for the city hotel where they were found later in the evening, said an official release.
Earlier, after a blue stroller bag was found, during a check, in a toilet, customs officials opened the bag with Chinese markings and found the gold, in 1kg bars, concealed in two plastic boxes. After carefully examining CCTV camera footage a special team fanned out across the city, focusing on the major hotels, before zeroing in on the duo, customs officials said.
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Man caught smuggling 100 iPhone X models at Delhi Airport.
At the Delhi Airport, a man was arrested by the customs for allegedly trying to smuggle 100 iPhone X models into the country. The 53-year-old accused was intercepted by the customs after his arrival from Dubai on Friday. Apple iPhone X is one of the most expensive flagship smartphones in the country right now.
The base model of iPhone X with 64GB storage retails at Rs 95,390 while the higher version with 256GB storage retails for Rs 1,08,930. “Hundred iPhone X handsets worth a total of Rs 85.61 lakh were seized from his baggage after a thorough search,” said Amandeep Singh, Additional Commissioner of customs at the airport.
Research firm Strategy Analytics reported that Apple sold 16 million units of iPhone X during the first quarter of 2018. It was also the most successful smartphone model in terms of sales during the quarter ending March 2018.
http://www.bgr.in/news/man-caught-smuggling-100-iphone-x-models-at-delhi-airport/
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Ahead Of Kairana Bypoll, Illegal Alcohol Worth 1 Crore Seized
MUZAFFARNAGAR: The police today claimed to have seized liquor worth Rs. one crore at two check posts on the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border in Shamli district, ahead of Kairana bypoll in Uttar Pradesh.
The 48-hour drive against smuggling of illicit liquor came days before Kairana parliamentary constituency bypoll on May 28.
According to Additional SP Shlok Kumar, during the drive, police seized over 1,300 cartons of liquor and arrested three persons in this connection. The liquor was being smuggled from Haryana to Uttar Pradesh.
While 331 cartons of liquor worth Rs. 30 lakh were seized at Yamuna checkpost in Kairana, as many as 1,000 liquor cartons having an estimated worth of Rs. 70 lakh were seized at Bidoli checkpost under Jhinjhana police station limits. Two trucks carrying the liquor cartons were also seized.
Meanwhile, police seized over Rs. 12 lakh in cash from a car coming from Haryana to Kairana yesterday, according to circle officer Rajesh Kumar Tiwari.
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Tobacco smuggling gang jailed
A five-strong tobacco smuggling gang, which brought more than 12 million illicit cigarettes into the North East hidden inside wooden cable drum discs, has been jailed.
The gang was caught by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers unloading cigarettes at an industrial unit in Stanley, County Durham.
Officers seized 1.2 million cigarettes, which had been smuggled into the UK from Ukraine by lorry in April 2015. Individual packets of the Winston Blue branded products had been packed in long plastic strips to fit inside the 171 modified cable drum discs.
An HMRC investigation found the five men smuggled more than 12 million non-UK duty paid cigarettes, worth £3.6m in duty and VAT, into the UK between 2013 and 2015.
https://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/tobacco-smuggling-gang-jailed-04-05-2018/
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Sri Lanka becomes smuggling hotspot, DRI seizes 32 kg gold worth Rs 10 crore in Chennai
In a span of less than 24 hours, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Chennai Zonal Unit, seized a total of 32.249 kg of gold valued at Rs 10.215 crore. It was smuggled into India by sea and being transported to Chennai for sale.
Six people were apprehended in connection with the case and all of them in their statements admitted that they purposely transported the smuggled gold to Chennai.
The gold was being smuggled from Sri Lanka through coastal Tamil Nadu.
On Tuesday evening, DRI officials kept a strict vigil in the bylanes of Mannady and observed a person on a two-wheeler receiving a heavy suspicious looking package.
The receiver of the contraband was apprehended by the officials. After detailed examination the gold was found to weigh 12.149 kg.
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