Police uncover counterfeit spare parts business
The Jakarta Police said Thursday that they had uncovered a counterfeit motorcycle parts business with revenue of Rp 300 million (US$22,168) per month in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.
The Jakarta Police’s industry and trade division director Sr. Adj. Comr. AgungMarlianto said the business, which had operated for about seven years, repacked non-branded low-quality spare parts with well-known brands before distributing them to auto-part shops around the capital at lower prices than the originals.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/19/police-uncover-counterfeit-spare-parts-business.html
Lear MoreAnti-Contraband Enforcement Unit Important Step in Fighting Organized Crime
The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) welcomed the confirmation of the setup of New Brunswick’s new Contraband Tobacco Enforcement Unit. It was confirmed this week that the new, 9-member team will be in place by the spring and have the same authority as police.
“Experience in Quebec has shown that dedicated enforcement is an effective tool to reducing contraband. In that province, tough anti-contraband measures introduced in 2009 have led to a 50% decrease in contraband,” said Gary Grant, a 39-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service and spokesperson for NCACT. “New Brunswick still has much work to do, and recent tax increases introduced in the last budget will only make this challenge more difficult,” continued Grant. “Anti-contraband measures really must be given a chance to work before changes to the legal market should be considered.”
Counterfeit airbags a ‘clear danger to the public’
Police have arrested a man believed to be linked with the online sale of almost 700 counterfeit vehicle airbags. Detectives believe as many as 680 people made purchases from an individual selling counterfeit and potentially dangerous airbags and airbag covers on eBay.
Nearly 150 people or businesses purchased suspected counterfeit Honda CRV and Accord safety devices. Officers from the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) are currently establishing if the remaining products are imitations of other manufacturer car parts.
On February 18, PIPCU, with assistance from Dorset Police, arrested a 34-year-old man in Blandford Forum, North Dorset, on suspicion of counterfeiting and money laundering offences. So far officers have seized approximately 100 suspected counterfeit airbags, as well as a large quantity of airbag components, financial documents and computers. The man has since been released on bail pending further inquiries.
PMI: We have common ground with EU on tobacco smuggling
In recent months, there has been a great deal of talk in Brussels about the measures used to tackle the illegal trade in tobacco products, notably the 12-year anti-illicit trade agreement between the European Commission, member states and Philip Morris International (PMI), which ends later this year.
The question of whether or not the agreement is renewed has become the defining feature of this debate. Portraying this as an issue dividing interested parties into opposing camps may make for good headlines, but in reality, there is more common ground about what is needed to fight the illicit trade than is often assumed.
https://euobserver.com/opinion/132325
Lear MoreContraband Tobacco: Imprisonment And Fines For Offenders 8
Revenu Quebec announced Thursday that eight people convicted of tobacco smuggling offenses were sentenced to pay fines totaling more than $ 1,073,000 within 24 months.One of them, Charles Patenaude, Saint-Cesaire, was also sentenced to serve a prison sentence of one month concurrently with another sentence of two months, having been in possession of some 35,000 illegal cigarettes.
Convicts are in particular been criticized for having sold, delivered or was in possession of tobacco intended for retail sale in Quebec and whose package was not identified in accordance with the Act. Moreover, they were not registered with Revenu Quebec and were holders of any of the permits required by law to conduct commercial activities related to tobacco products.
Fighting the Counterfeiting Mafia
At a foundry in Linqing, in the middle of Shandong Province in eastern China, six trucks stand in a courtyard, each filled with counterfeit roller bearings in plastic bags. One after another, the bags are tossed into a burning hot smelter.
The names of well-known German brand names INA and FAG, both owned by the German company Schaeffler are visible on the roller bearings. In the last few months, Chinese authorities raided more than 300,000 counterfeit parts made to resemble German manufacturer Schaeffler’s two brands, and are destroying them, in a public display of incineration. Chinese television crews stand by to film it all.
Five-state blitz on illegal cigs
The Customs Department raided outlets in five states under Ops Outlet 3.0 to crack down on the illegal cigarette trade. The raids were conducted simultaneously on Monday in Johor, Selangor, Federal Territory, Penang and Perak. Sixteen outlets were found to be in possession of illicit cigarettes, including trading the items illegally.
If proven guilty, the business owners can be charged under the Customs Act 1967 which carries stiff penalties including imprisonment.
In Johor, two foreigners believed to be employees were arrested at the business outlets.
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Maple Producers Blast Food Products Containing ‘Fake’ Maple
The word “maple” is often used to sell food products that don’t actually contain any maple, the industry charged. Maple syrup producers from all over the country are asking the Food and Drug Administration for strict enforcement of food product labeling, after growing concern from the maple industry that too many big food manufacturers may be deceptively using the word “maple” on their containers.
Those products, some of which were displayed at a Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association press conference Tuesday, run the gamut from oatmeal to cookies to ice cream. Despite using the word “maple” in their product names, they often do not contain any actual maple syrup in their ingredient lists, the association charged. They usually contain no natural maple sugar, either, the group said, just hard-to-pronounce chemical flavoring and coloring.
Illegal cigs and tobacco seized by West Yorkshire Trading Standards in crackdown
Illegal cigarettes and tobacco worth thousands of pounds have been seized by West Yorkshire Trading Standards as part of a nationwide crackdown. Government officials in the region have seized more than 37,000 cigarettes and 22kg of illegal tobacco during a large-scale operation to fight illegal tobacco selling.
The products were discovered during Operation Henry raids, which were coordinated by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and supported by the Department of Health.
Steep rise in seizure of smuggled cigarettes
Between April and December last year, 78.72 lakh cigarettes worth nearly Rs. 5.5 crore were seized
Smuggling of foreign cigarettes has been on an unusual rise in Bengaluru over the past several months, ostensibly due to high demand in the city, say customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport. Between April and December 2015, 78.72 lakh cigarettes worth nearly Rs. 5.5 crore were seized. This figure represents a steep rise from the 4.6 lakh cigarettes, valued at around Rs. 32.5 lakh, seized during the 2014-2015 financial year.
At least three to four cases of foreign cigarettes being smuggled have been reported daily over the past several months, a source in the Customs Department said.
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