Greek customs seize large quantities of contraband tobacco in Jan, Feb
European anti-fraud agents netted 54 million contraband cigarettes in Greece in cooperation with Greek and Cypriot customs agents in December and January, according to a statement by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Of the total haul, 33 million cigarettes were seized at Greek and Cypriot customs houses and another 21 million from the port of Piraeus.
Operations in Russia, Germany and Spain increased the size of the haul during the same period to 75 million. According to OLAF, the cigarettes were first shipped to Asia legally before being returned to Europe illegally.
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Hungary’s tax office recruits drones to crack down on cigarette smugglers
Hungaryʼs National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) acquired drones through HUF 20 million in European Union funding to crack down on cigarette smugglers, Hungarian daily Magyar Idők reported today. NAV is planning to employ heat cameras, night goggles, recording devices and also hovercrafts in the near future to detect smuggling activities, according to the daily.
NAV spokesperson Alexandra Sárközi said the office needs to keep up with the technological developments, adding that with the application of drones the office will be able to track smugglers without them realizing it.
The spokesperson noted that NAV seized more than 43 million contraband cigarettes with a market value of about HUF 1.7 billion last year, along with almost 70 tons of loose leaf tobacco.
Tobacco taxes exacerbate street crime in Chicago neighborhoods
We all understand that the City of Chicago is in dire need of additional revenue; however, it is critical that policymakers do so in a way that does not exacerbate the violence problem in low income and minority communities across the city.
The mayor’s proposal to raise $6 million dollars by further taxing tobacco would have a negative ripple effect that would increase crime, further aggravate police and community relations, and strip opportunity from struggling young people with tremendous odds already stacked against them.In the mayor’s proposal, a pack of cigars would just about double in price to around $15. Secondly, the proposal would set a minimum price on a pack of cigarettes at $11.50.
Producers of fake vehicle products busted
The Administrator of Coscharis Ghana Limited, Samuel Coffi, has charged Government to endeavor to flush out companies that are faking the products of other firms saying the practice has debilitating effects not only on genuine companies but also on the country. He said this after another company, was found faking his company’s products for the past three years. Mr. Coffi also urged the Ghana standards Authority to put in place necessary mechanisms to track fake and substandard goods that reach the market through the country’s porous entry points. The Administrator of Coscharis Ghana Limited was addressing Journalists in Accra, after the High Court General Jurisdiction 3, ordered them to confiscate the products of the illegal company SadhnaImpex Ltd, for faking their products.
http://citifmonline.com/2016/02/06/producers-of-fake-vehicle-products-busted-photos/
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Blowing in the wind: OLAF helps seizing 75 million cigarettes
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) had a good year’s start by carrying out, between December 2015 and January 2016, several operations in Greece, Russia, Germany and Spain that led to a total seizure of more than 75 million cigarettes.
During an enquiry that lasted several months, OLAF worked closely with Greek and Cypriot authorities to track the shipment and seize more than 33 million cigarettes in Greece. This was the largest of five operations in which a total of more than 75 million cigarettes were seized in Greece, Russia, Germany and Spain between December 2015 and January 2016.
http://neurope.eu/article/blowing-in-the-wind-olaf-helps-seizing-75-million-cigarettes/
Lear MoreSneaking a Smoke
As a small country of 6.9 million inhabitants, Paraguay rarely draws international attention. Unlike some of its neighbors, it does not face debilitating violence, nor is it overwhelmed by paramilitary or gang activity. In fact, Paraguay has enjoyed economic growth in recent years. But beyond its apparent normalcy, the nation is grappling with pervasive corruption and organized crime.
One particular sector seems to play a significant role in the nation’s corruption-related challenges—Paraguay’s tobacco industry. According to a 2009 study by Uruguay’s Tobacco Epidemic Research Center (CIET), Paraguay accounts for approximately 11 percent of the world’s supply of contraband cigarettes. Paraguayan cigarette manufacturers produced 68 billion cigarettes in 2006, more than 20 times what the country consumes. Estimates suggest that 90 percent of the nation’s production—worth an estimated $1 billion—disappears every year to the black market.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/paraguay/2016-02-05/sneaking-smoke
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Smoking out contraband cigarettes in Northumberland
Whether they’re left crumpled and fizzling on the sidewalk, or tossed with a flick of a finger out a truck’s window, black market cigarettes can be found anywhere in Ontario.
Just take a look around local shopping centres.
Check the hospital parking lots.
Check the public parks.
Check the high schools.
There’s a rise of cheap tobacco circulating Ontario as some of the province’s 2.2-million smokers are turning to the black market for their nicotine fix. Rather than paying $2.80 of provincial tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes, smokers are picking up plastic, no-name, knock-off cigarettes either designed for First Nation reserves or the U.S. market for merely $8 for 200 cigarettes.
It’s hard to pass up a good deal, right? Especially when it’s a widely viewed as a victimless crime.
Dearborn Co. Prosecutor’s Office Helps End Counterfeit Goggle Business
Dearborn County authorities are being credited with helping bust a Chinese company selling counterfeit combat goggles.
The company named Guangzhou Botai Optical Visor Co., Ltd. is accused of illegally manufacturing and selling counterfeit military-grade goggles. The goggles that the knock-offs imitated are manufactured by U.S. company Revision Military. The goggles are used by special forces.
According to a news release from Revision Military, the phoney goggles were distributed under the pretense of providing military-grade ballistic protection which presents a hazard to the safety of users expecting the high level eye protection which of the authentic product. Testing, Revision claims, showed that Guangzhou Botai’s goggles met none of the industry standards for optical or ballistic quality.
House: Smuggling = economic sabotage
A BILL defining smuggling as an act of economic sabotage is getting closer to becoming law after the House of Representatives ratified its final version in the chamber, drawing praises from a group of farmers and agriculture industry players that has been lobbying for tougher penalties for the illegal entry of agricultural products into the country. The bill has received the full support of the SamahangIndustriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag), a group of 33 farmers and agriculture associations across the country. Rep. Romero Quimbo, ways and means committee chair, said he expects President Aquino to sign the proposed Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act into law after the House and Senate agreed to its final version in the bicameral conference level.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/761272/house-smuggling-economic-sabotage#ixzz3zBsegRZr
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Flush-out Companies Trading Fake Products
Ghana standards Authority is also expected to put in place the necessary mechanisms to track fake and substandard goods that reach the market through our porous entry points.The Administrator of Cosharis Ghana Limited Mr. Samuel Coffi was addressing Journalists in Accra after the High Court General Jurisdiction 3, ordered them to confiscate the products of a Company called SadhnaImpex Ltd for faking their products.According to him, Sadhnalmpex Ltd has been faking their products for almost three years now which has been crippling their business.
http://www.newsghana.com.gh/flush-out-companies-trading-fake-products/
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