Customs Agents Seize Illicit Cash, Cigarettes at Airport
YERUSHALAYIM – Customs agents in recent days seized 1,130 packets of cigarettes that two immigrants from the former Soviet republic of Georgia were attempting to smuggle into Israel. The cigarettes were valued at over NIS 250,000, the Customs Authority said Monday.The smugglers attempted to pass through customs on the “green channel,” but customs officials demanded to see the contents of their luggage – which turned out to be stuffed to the gills with cigarette packets. The two said that they had been asked by a third individual to bring the luggage into the country, but had been unaware of their contents.
http://hamodia.com/2016/01/25/customs-agents-seize-illicit-cash-cigarettes-at-airport/
Lear MoreRaids at gutka-making units; goods worth Rs.3 crore seized
Raids by police and administration during the past one month have unearthed several large scale gutka manufacturing units in and around Berhampur in Odisha.According to police sources, huge quantity of stored gutka, raw materials as well as machinery used for packaging seized from these illegal units was worth over Rs.3 crore. Till now four illegal gutka manufacturing and storage units have been unearthed.It may be noted that since January 1, 2013, the Odisha government has banned manufacture and sale of tobacco-laced gutka in the State.
Fake hoverboard batteries plague Samsung, LG
Fake batteries are becoming a headache for Korean battery-makers Samsung SDI and LG Chem, after recent hoverboard fire and explosion cases in the U.S. reportedly involved counterfeit batteries bearing Samsung and LG logos. More than 300 counterfeit hoverboards worth around $94,000 were seized in Miami by the U.S. Customs aThe counterfeit hoverboards, which were shipped from China, contained batteries carrying the LG logo, the report said, citing officials participating in the investigation. The latest development came after another investigation by U.S. authorities revealed that problematic self-balancing boards used fake Samsung SDI lithium-ion batteries.Neither company produces batteries for hoverboards.“Fake batteries have long been a sticking point, but it is not easy to track down counterfeiters,” said a public relations representative from LG Chemsaid.nd Border Protection last week, according to a news report by Sun-Sentinel.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160123000022
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Multimillion-dollar fake cigarette trafficker did it for love
Fort Lauderdale: A man who admitted he trafficked knock-off cigarettes with a retail value of about $US5.5 million ($7.8 million) to the US via India and Dubai says he did it out of love for his father. The case involved more than 51,500 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes – which prosecutors say often contain dangerous levels of arsenic and other noxious substances – seized from a shipping container in 2014.Gaurav Joseph Jayaseelan, 26, a citizen of India, told the judge he knew what he did was wrong. He said he had been unduly influenced by his love for and subservience to his father, who sent him to the US to unwittingly meet undercover investigators from the US Food and Drug Administration.Jayaseelan, his father, Joseph RayappanJayaseelan, and another man, Pedro Ivan Flores, were indicted in September 2014. He was sentenced on Friday to 16 months in a US federal prison.
RAID ON CORNISH SMUGGLERS
A spokeswoman for the council said ‘hundreds of pouches of rolling tobacco and large quantities of cash’ were seized.The local police, HM Customs and Trading Standards helped execute the raids, which led to three arrests. The suspects were taken to police stations at Newquay and Camborne.Senior Trading Standards Officer Elizabeth Kirk said dodgy baccy had “proven links to wider criminal activity”.Smuggling tobacco also caused “financial detriment to legitimate traders,” she said.The council official also claimed untaxed tobacco made it more likely that children would smoke.
Lear MoreNigeria: Customs Uncovers Plan to Smuggle Dangerous Items Into Nigeria
Lagos — The Nigerian Customs Service says it has uncovered plan by some high profile criminal gangs to smuggle dangerous items into the country using delivery trucks belonging to courier companies. Consequently, the service said it has opened an investigation into the discovery of contraband items hidden in consignments in trucks from Benin Republic to Nigeria through the Lagos and Ogun states borders.The investigation may not be unconnected with the recent arrest of a truck suspected to belong to a courier company used in conveying 100 cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products and several used tyres. The arrest was made by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service attached to Headquarters Compliance at Owode-Idiroko border, Ogun State. The team, led by Assistant Comptroller of Customs ShittuAjibola, accosted the smugglers along Ijebu-Ode-1Sagamu axis in the state.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201601210676.html
Lear MoreAnti-counterfeit boss calls for collaboration in fight against fake products
There is need to collaborate within government agencies and other major stakeholders in the fight against counterfeit products in the country.
The Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) CEO John Akoten said the war against counterfeit products should be given an all-inclusive approach.
Speaking in Kisumu on Wednesday during a forum organised by ACA for various stakeholders, Akoten said the agency wants to conduct a research so as to quantify the amount of counterfeit goods in the country to better combat the problem.
http://www.hivisasa.com/kisumu/news/111205
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Egypt launches authentication system for food, pharma
Dr. Khaled HanafiEgypt is turning to an SMS-based verification systemin a bid to prevent consumers being exposed to counterfeit food, beverages and pharmaceuticals.The project has been funded by the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade and Ministry of Military Production, and was unveiled at a press conference earlier this month.The verification platform consists of labels – with randomised serial numbers in human-readable form and incorporated into a barcode – which can be sent to a registered number via SMS using a regular mobile phone or a smartphone.
Cigarette smuggling rife in Cyprus say MPs
Cigarette and tobacco smuggling is booming in Cyprus, costing the state millions in taxes and known individuals are behind it, MPs said on Tuesday. The House Watchdog Committee discussed the issue in the wake of the seizure of 19.5 tonnes of tobacco in Aradippou in October, the largest haul to date. “Let us not hide our heads in the sand,” AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou said. “There is a smuggling ring and there are known individuals hiding behind it.” Charalambidou said chaos reigned supreme.
http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/01/19/cigarette-smuggling-rife-in-cyprus-say-mps/
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Counterfeits to hurt India’s manufacturing sector: A report
The activities of counterfeiting and smuggling are presenting a bigger challenge for enforcement authorities and governments globally and in India. As per World Customs Organisation’s (WCO) estimates, approximately 3 billion pieces of counterfeit and pirated products were seized in 2013. Of these, more than half of the reported goods were illicit pharmaceutical products (2.3 billion pieces), followed by electronic appliances (470 million pieces), other taxable products (95 million) and foodstuff (50 million), amongst other commodities. For other industries such as tobacco, a significant rise in illicit trade have been reported. It indicated that in 2012 the illicit trade, rose to 40 percent making tobacco trafficking, a serious issue for customs organisations.
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