Authorities seize 35 tonnes of fake cigarettes
Anti-economic crime police on Tuesday raided a factory producing counterfeit cigarettes and seized 35 tonnes of the product in Kandal province.
Long Sreng, head of the anti-economic crime department, said on Tuesday that the raid was carried out in collaboration with local authorities following a complaint from the company authorised to produce the cigarettes under the ESSE brand.
“We cracked down on the factory in the province’s Takhmao city after receiving a complaint from the producer of ESSE cigarettes,” he said. “We seized the fake cigarettes from the factory’s warehouse in the town’s Kampong Samnanh village.”
Provincial police chief Major General Eav Chamroeun on Tuesday identified the owner of the company registered to produce ESSE cigarettes as Sat Dane.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50528180/authorities-seize-35-tonnes-of-fake-cigarettes-2/
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Smuggled cigarettes worth Rs 21L, 850 first copies of watches seized in Mumbai
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a major watch racket after raiding two shops in Manish Market area on Tuesday. The DRI sleuths had allegedly seized 850 first copies of high-end watches and have sent them for valuation. However, they assume that the total cost of these watches could run in crores.
According to the DRI sources, acting on specific information about illegally smuggled watches being stored for sale, the DRI officials conducted a raid at Musafir Khana, Manish Market on Tuesday afternoon. The agency raided two shops reportedly owned by one Aadil Ashfaq Padri and had seized 850 watches.
“The shop owner had no relevant import documents for the watches. While some of the watches seemed to be genuine, some look like first copies of Rolex, Omega, Seiko, Armani and Rado. As per our information, the goods were misdeclared and were brought from Nhava Sheva port to Manish Market,” said a DRI source.
Lear MoreMore than 8 million cigarettes smuggled into Dublin Port in container marked ‘car parts’
Revenue officers have seized 8.3 million smuggled cigarettes that arrived in a shipping container marked “car parts”.
The smokes – reportedly worth around €4.5 million – came into Dublin Port on a boat from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Revenue said in a statement: “The seized cigarettes were ‘cheap whites’ branded ‘RGD Magnum’ and ‘Mark 1’, with a retail value of over €4.5 million, representing a loss to the Exchequer of approximately €3.6 million.
Yesterday’s seizure was part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes and tobacco on the black market.
So far this year, Revenue’s routine and intelligence-led operations – some of which involved inter-agency and international cooperation – have prevented more than 50 million smuggled cigarettes from being sold in the shadow economy.
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Smugglers discovered hiding in a South Shields warehouse with 1.5 MILLION illegal cigarettes
A trio of smugglers discovered hiding in a warehouse have been jailed after being found with 1.5 MILLION illegal cigarettes.
The tobacco-smuggling men disguised their stash as road-surfacing material and brought the contraband into the UK from Romania, evading more than half-a-million pounds of taxes.
Detectives from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found the illegal tabs in wooden containers coated in bitumen and then wrapped in packaging when they raided a unit on the Middlefields Industrial Estate in South Shields.
Fraud investigators say the three men – Yiannakis Theodorou, Danut Nastasescu and Stanel Oprisan – were attempting to “flood the streets with illicit cigarettes”.
And when they searched the Throckley Way warehouse in March, investigators discovered 24 pallets loaded with packages 1,508,300 cigarettes worth £526,397 in unpaid duty.
Lear MoreRs 2.4-crore foreign cigarettes seized, two held for smuggling
MUMBAI: The Directorate Revenue of Intelligence (DRI) has busted a smuggling racket at Manish Market and Musafirkhana at Masjid Bunder in south Mumbai and seized foreign cigarettes worth around Rs 2.4 crore. Following raids at six places, including two houses, the DRI also arrested two racketeers, and seized Rs 2.3 crore from them.
Sources said that following a tip-off, when the DRI conducted raids at two shops and two godowns, it found 7,000 cartons of foreign cigarettes, such as Benson & Hedges, L&M, Marlboro, 555 and Gudang Garam that did not have the statutory health warning.
“These cigarettes were meant for countries that do not requi re statutory warnings. So the smugglers face charges under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014 also,” an officer said. The arrrested men allegedly told investigators that the seized monney was to meant to be sent to Dubai through Hawala.
Two dozen arrested in biggest new york counterfeit cosmetics haul to date
Two dozen people have been detained in connection to what is said to be the largest counterfeit cosmetics arrest in history, in what would have been an estimated $450 million retail price.
A total of 22 people have been charged in the case, whom officials say used 40-foot shipping containers to smuggle in items such as fake Chanel perfume that have been manufactured in China.
The items were said to have been primarily smuggled in via the Port of New York/New Jersey. 11 other suspects were arrested via a separate warrant.
Speaking in a statement, HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Angel Melendez stated, “This investigation exposed the global nature of intellectual property crimes, allegedly being executed by those arrested today. Counterfeit goods manufactured and smuggled from China with a suggested value close to half a billion dollars, were intended to make its way into U.S. markets and into the hands of unsuspecting consumers.
Lear MoreThe Dangers of Fake Counterfeit Makeup Ingredients In Cosmetics
Buyer beware! Here’s something every makeup lover needs to know!
If you haven’t heard, retailers selling fake cosmetics are running rampant all over the web. Counterfeit beauty products may sound innocent at first. After all, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to get a great deal on their favorite high-end cosmetics? But there’s a serious catch to buying a so-called “discounted” designer item.
Nottingham man jailed for two years for role in £1m tobacco smuggling plot
A Nottingham man who was part of an 11-strong tobacco smuggling gang that attempted to flood the streets with millions of illegal cigarettes has been locked up.
Terrence Knight, 53, of Northumberland Close, St Ann’s, was jailed for two years at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (August 17) for intent to defraud. The gang attempted to evade more than £1 million in unpaid duty.
Officers from Revenue and Customs (HMRC) seized nearly five million cigarettes, 329kg of hand-rolling tobacco and in excess of £50,000 cash across the Midlands and Yorkshire, during a ten-month period from May 2015.
Almost £18,000 of that money found was stashed inside a kitchen bin and other piles of cash were hidden under stairs, car seats and around the homes of several gang members.
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/nottingham-man-jailed-two-years-1912222
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Gang jailed for smuggling millions of cigarettes into UK
Members of a gang which smuggled almost five million cigarettes and 329kg of tobacco into the UK without paying tax of more than £1.2million have been jailed today.
The 11 defendants went to locations around Nottingham, Leicester, Bolton and Doncaster to store and deliver foreign cigarettes where tax had not been paid.
Between May 2015 and October 2016, the defendants were in possession of 4,716,340 untaxed cigarettes and 329kg of untaxed tobacco.
As well as avoiding £1,230,761 in tax, the group were found to have almost £58,000 in cash when they were arrested.
Michelle Rhodes, from the CPS, said “These defendants ran a complicated operation to bring cigarettes into the country, avoiding tax, before selling them on for personal gain.
https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/gang-jailed-smuggling-millions-cigarettes-uk
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Nearly a dozen suspected traffickers charged with smuggling $450 million of fake Chinese goods to US
Police in New York have arrested 22 people on suspicion of being involved in a plot to smuggle counterfeit goods worth $450 million into the US from China.
The suspects stand accused of smuggling Chinese-manufactured fake luxury items into the country, such as Louis Vuitton and Tory Burch handbags, Michael Kors wallets, Hermes belts and Chanel perfume, among other products.
Prosecutors argue the Chinese gang members smuggled the items in large shipping containers disguised as legitimate products and brought them into the country via seaports in New York and New Jersey.
In a bid to avoid the attention of law enforcement authorities, the gang members are said to have falsified customs documents and used “burner” cell phone numbers and email accounts to conceal their true identities and cover their tracks.
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