Capacity Building Programme for Police Officers on Prevention of Counterfeiting, Smuggling and Piracy
06/03/2021| Gurugram
FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) organized a capacity building programme on Prevention of Counterfeiting and Smuggling for the police officers of Gurugram on 6th March 2021. Mr. Maqsood Ahmed, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Gurugram in his address said, “Activities like smuggling and counterfeiting are causing huge damage to the society and the nation’s economy. Gurugram has recently seen a spike in white collared crime hence increasing surveillance, creating awareness and coordination amongst law enforcement agencies are key to counter this menace effectively.
Mr. Deep Chand, Advisor FICCI CASCADE and Former Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi during his presentation of the overview on Socio-Economic Impact of Counterfeiting, Smuggling & Piracy highlighted that the COVID19 provided an opportunity to criminals to exploit the current situation and found new ways to make money be it counterfeit or smuggled goods, fraud and cybercrime. Applauding the enforcement officers, Mr. Deep Chand said “even as the country is grappling with the coronavirus crisis, the resolve of officers to protect infiltration of illicit goods surreptitiously into our market-places while maintaining law and order is indeed laudable. However, continued thrust of enforcement activity is essential to keep the offenders at bay.”
The programme was also addressed by Mr. Dharamveer Singh, Asst. Commissioner of Police, Gurugram Police. Sharing his wide experience on investigation of such cases, Mr. Singh emphasized that how the increasing number of seizures may just be the tip of the iceberg of a much larger network and hence this calls for continued focus on tackling the widespread threat
This capacity building programme aimed to sensitize the police officers and underscore the importance of continued awareness and seriousness of the impact of counterfeit and smuggled goods. It was emphasized that such illicit trading practices not only causes huge losses to the government and industry but is also causing significant economic and health & safety consequences for the society at large. Mr. Shashank Singh, Partner, K&S Partners informed the officers about the relevant laws and procedures to be followed while dealing with such cases. Industry representatives- Mr. Milind Palany, Global Brand Protection Lead, India & South Asia, Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Pravin Singh, Lead-Public Policy & Advocacy and Mr. Manish Bathri, Consultant, Brand Protection, Marico Ltd. and Mr. Rajiv Suri, Partner, RNA Technology & IP Attorneys who spoke on behalf of Puma discussed the collaborative role of police and industry in thwarting this menace.
FICCI CASCADE has been successful in stirring an active debate on the topic nationally through various awareness programmes. Among other activities, FICCI CASCADE has been organizing capacity building programs for police officers in various states, focusing on economic offences related to counterfeiting and smuggling, equipping the officers to understand the laws and take requisite action against the perpetrators.
ED raids premises of forex dealers in Mumbai, Goa, seize illegal money worth Rs 44.37 lakh
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that it has conducted searches at the office and residential premises of three forex dealers and their directors situated in Mumbai and Goa and seized illegal money worth Rs 44.37 lakh. The dealing companies Full-Fledged Money Changers (FFMC,) Sete Mares Global Forex Pvt Ltd, Nemichand Khemraj Forex Pvt Ltd.
“The search resulted in the seizure of Rs 44.37 lakh and assorted foreign currencies worth Rs 9.55 lakh which was in contravention of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and Rules and Regulation made thereunder,” the ED said in a statement issued. “Further, incriminating documents, laptops, mobile phones, containing information related to hawala transactions, smuggling of foreign currency were also recovered and seized during the search operation,” it added.
These companies, engaged in the business of foreign currency exchange, had deposited huge amounts of cash in the bank accounts on a daily basis and remitted it through RTGS and NEFT to other FFMCs and collected foreign currency in cash which aroused suspicion against these companies. “It was suspected that these companies may be involved in trade based hawala and the foreign currencies collected by these companies were smuggled out of the country to settle transactions abroad”, the ED said.
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3 arrested for smuggling IMFL meant for sale in Goa
Aurangabad: The state excise department on Thursday seized a pick-up van for smuggling 1,152 bottle of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) — meant for sale only in the state of Goa. Police have seized the vehicle and alcohol all amounting to around Rs 4 lakh.
The suspects had modified the floor of the pick-up van and installed multiple containers for storing the liquor boxes. To avoid getting nabbed, the accused would put the illegally obtained liquor boxes and cover them with the metal flooring. To deceive the law enforcement agencies, the accused would put some goods in the pickup jeep.
Once delivered, this liquor, purchased at lesser price from Goa, would give them heavy returns after being sold in the open market. The suspects have been identified as Dhamma Wakte and Ganesh Lahane.
An excise official said that the suspects are part of an inter-state racket involved in procuring liquor from Union Territories and selling it in Maharashtra.
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Two arrested at RGIA for smuggling gold, cigarettes
Hyderabad: Customs sleuths apprehended a passenger who arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International (RGI) Airport from Dubai for trying to smuggle in 1.6kg gold on Tuesday.
Customs officials also apprehended a passenger for trying to smuggle in foreign cigarettes.
The passenger, Amtul H Mohammed, of Hakimpet, concealed pouches containing gold paste weighing about 1.6 kilos inside her clothes. The accused arrived from Dubai at 2.50pm on Tuesday.
Amtul opted for a green channel at customs check area, indicating that she was not carrying any dutiable items. Customs sleuths intercepted her and recovered the gold worth Rs 74 lakh. They booked a case against her under the Customs Act and seized the gold.
In another incident, customs officials apprehended a 41-year-old man for trying to smuggle in 40,000 cigarette sticks.
During the early hours of Wednesday, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel intercepted a passenger, Abdul Azeez K of Kerala who arrived from Abu Dhabi.
Lear MoreFake currency notes of Rs 1.85 lakh face value seized, 1 held
Navi Mumbai police have arrested one person and seized from him fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination with a face-value of Rs 1.85 lakh, an official said on Wednesday.
Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap at the bus depot near the CBD railway station in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday and nabbed the accused, Salim Ali Asril Haque (30), who hails from West Bengal.
“They seized 200 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination. He had come there to exchange the notes with someone,” the police official said.
The police later also carried out a search of his house at Taloja in Navi Mumbai and recovered 170 more notes of Rs 500 denomination each, he said.
An offence has been registered. The accused was produced before a local magistrate, who remanded him into police custody till March 11, the official added.
Lear MoreChhattisgarh: 5 held in connection with smuggling of gold
Raipur, May 3 (PTI) The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday nabbed five persons in Chhattisgarh”s Rajnandgaon district in connection with the smuggling of foreign origin gold and seized valuables worth Rs 42 crore, officials said.
The Raipur unit of the DRI arrested two persons and apprehended three others in connection with the smuggling of foreign origin gold, an official statement said.
Officials seized 18.18 kg gold, 4545 kg silver and Rs 32.35 lakh, collectively worth Rs 42 crore.
Based on specific inputs, the DRI intercepted two persons while they were carrying foreign origin smuggled gold by train from Kolkata to Rajnandgaon at Raipur, it said.
“Foreign-marked gold bars weighing 13.53 kg were recovered from the duo which was concealed by strapping them with help of cloth on their back,” said officials.
In the follow-up operations, two persons who had come to collect the smuggled gold and the final recipient, a jeweller, were also identified, they added.
Later, a search was carried out at the premises of the said jeweller, which resulted in the recovery of silver weighing 4545 kg and gold bullion and its pieces weighing 4.65 kg, besides Rs 32.35 lakh in cash.
Lear MoreOdisha Police seizes fake currency notes with face value of Rs 7.9 crore
Police on Tuesday seized counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 7.90 crore and arrested three persons in Odisha”s Koraput district during routine checking of vehicles, an officer said.
The personnel of the motor vehicle checking team detained a private car with Chhattisgarh registration number at Sunki outpost under Pottangi police station limits, the officer said.
Three persons including the driver were travelling in the car.
During checking, it was found that there were two bags on the back seat of the car and two other bags in the dickey of the vehicle. On opening the four bags, the police team found bundles of fake currency notes of the denomination of Rs 500, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sunabeda, Niranjan Behera said.
“On being asked, the detainees disclosed that they are coming from Raipur in Chhattisgarh and proceeding towards Visakhapatnam. They also admitted carrying fake currency notes in the bags,” the officer said.
The police team seized fake currency notes with a face value of Rs 7,90,00,000 and arrested the three persons hailing from Janjgir Champa district of Chhattishgarh, he said.
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Maharashtra: Raids conducted in Navi Mumbai, 21 lakh imported cigarettes worth Rs 4 crore seized
On February 28, imported cigarettes worth Rs 4 crore seized from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai. According to reports, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) acting on specific intelligence, conducted a raid in the Navi region in the ongoing all-out war against drug syndicates.
DRI sleuths conducted a raid on Sunday afternoon after receiving a tip-off regarding the smuggling of cigarettes at JNPT. During the probe, officials found 21,60,000 cigarettes in boxes.
According to the officials, several drug consignments have been seized by the DRI over the recent past. In another incident, based on prior information, the agency seized 18 lakh cigarettes being smuggled into the country, added an official.
According to the Navbharat Times report, the cigarette boxes were deliberately kept unprinted with statutory warnings in order to evade taxes. As per government protocols, 100% tax is levied on imported cigarettes in India.
According to the official, the cigarette boxes did not have any kind of statutory warning printed on the boxes, while further investigations are underway to find out the links. Tobacco products come with a message printed on it warning consumers of the health risks, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
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Over 200 iPhones worth Rs 2.8 cr seized from couple at Bengaluru airport
The police told the media that the couple were acting at the behest of a big smuggling racket. Over 200 iPhones worth Rs 2.8 crore were seized at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on Sunday by Customs officials from a couple. The couple are of Indian origin but are United States passport holders and were detained after the phones were seized from their baggage. They were produced before a magistrate on Sunday who remanded them to judicial custody till March 12.
Officials have dubbed this as one of the biggest seizures at the airport and told the media that the couple were acting at the behest of a big smuggling racket that had strong connections in Bengaluru. The New Indian Express quoted a top official as saying, “The phones were the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max models and their total value is Rs 2,74,19,400. A total of 37 debit and credit cards used in the purchase were also seized from them.” The official added that the scanning of their luggage had led to the seizure.
The middle-aged couple had arrived at the international airport during the wee hours via an Air France flight from Paris. They both flew to France from Mumbai on February 13 allegedly to purchase the consignment there, the Times of India reported.
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Mumbai: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seizes foreign cigarettes worth Rs 4.75 crore being smuggled from Dubai
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized smuggled foreign cigarettes worth Rs 4.75 crore near Nhava Sheva Port.
“Specific intelligence was received by officers of DRI, Mumbai that a large quantity of cigarettes of foreign origin were being attempted to be smuggled into India in an Import consignment arriving from Dubai. Hence, the DRI officers identified the suspected consignment and intercepted it at a container freight station near Nhava Sheva Port,” said a senior officer.
Examination of the said import consignment was done under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 which resulted in the recovery of cigarettes of foreign origin. Total 21,60,000 cigarette sticks of smuggled cigarettes of Gudang Garam valued at Rs. 4,75,20,000 were seized. Declared cargo of wallets was kept in front-side of the container so as to conceal the cigarettes.
According to DRI, the investigation revealed that the aforesaid consignment was imported using Importer Exporter Code (IEC) which has been obtained by misusing KYC documents.
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