Woman arrested for importing fake goods, over 400 counterfeit items worth $13k seized.
A 38-year-old woman was arrested for her suspected involvement in the importation and possession of counterfeit items for the purpose of trade.
A joint operation by the Criminal Investigation Department and Singapore Customs on Dec 19 saw a logistics company at Changi South Avenue and a residential unit in Ang Mo Kio raided. The woman was then nabbed.
Over 400 pieces of counterfeit items including perfume and cosmetics sets, sunglasses, handbags, bags, purses, wallets and pouches, with an estimated street value of more than S$13,000, were also seized. Investigations are ongoing.
“The authorities take a serious view on intellectual property right (IPR) infringements and will not hesitate to take action against perpetrators who show blatant disregard for Singapore’s IPR laws,” said the police and Singapore Customs in a joint statement.
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Gurugram centre to monitor Indian Ocean Region coastline.
Consolidating the regional efforts with friendly nations to keep the global commons “open and accessible for all,” India on December 22 inaugurated an Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) which will work closely with countries in the region and will be manned by the Indian Navy.
“The need for IFC-IOR stems from importance of the IOR for world trade and security. All stakeholders are equal in this maritime security and safety milestone,” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the inauguration.
A theatre of contention
The IFC has been established at the Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) at Gurugram, the single point centre interlinking all the coastal radar chains to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km long coastline.
The IFC aims to bring various countries in the region and pool in best practices to jointly monitor the vast IOR which is increasingly becoming the theatre of contention between great powers apart from an increase in natural disasters and trans-national threats like piracy, terrorism and trafficking.
According to Navy officials, “all countries — about 21 — that have already signed White Shipping Information Exchange agreements with us are IFC partners and can post International Liaison Officers (ILOs) at the centre.” At least 10 countries, including the U.S., France, Italy and Japan, have expressed in posting their officers. “It is for equals, it is for partners,” Ms. Sitharaman stated.
The centre will be tracking and monitoring 75,000 to 1.5 lakh shipping traffic in the IOR in real time, round-the-clock.
To begin with, the ILOs will have a virtual presence at the centre. In the near future, the Indian Navy is looking to host additional ILOs adjacent to the IFC-IOR for which creation of infrastructure and manpower is being worked out.
“The expertise of the resident ILOs would be utilised towards sharing of real time information with partners as well as for generating timely and adequate response to developing situations,” the Navy said in a statement.
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Thousands of fake fashion products seized in HCMC.
Market Management Team No.27 under HCMC Market Management Department sequestered over 1,800 wallets and handbags suspect to be counterfeits of well-known brand names such as Gucci, Chanel and Versace at a location in District 12 on December 20.
The owner of the consignment said that the above products were made in China and transported from Hanoi to HCMC without invoices and related documents.
Previously the team inspected and seized a similar consignment in District 9.
Last week the city Market Management Department continuously uncovered and seized tens of thousands of illicit cosmetics, clothes and handbags counterfeiting famous brand names in the word .
The agency has furthered supervision over production and trading of consumer goods especially commodities for Tet holidays.
http://sggpnews.org.vn/business/thousands-of-fake-fashion-products-seized-in-hcmc-79340.html
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$9 Million Worth of Counterfeit Goods Seized In Downtown Kingston.
Counterfeit goods valued at $9 million have been seized by investigators from the police’s Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Branch (CTOC). One man remains in police custody in relation to the find.
C-TOC said the seizure was made during a special operation conducted between 12:10 p.m and 7:00 p.m at a premises on Mark Lane in downtown Kingston yesterday.
The police unit said over 1000 pairs of counterfeit footwear and sports jerseys were seized. C-TOC said that to date it has seized over $1.5 billion worth of counterfeit goods.
CTOC noted that it has a mandate to disrupt the counterfeit industry and that Jamaica, as a sovereign state, is obliged to protect its citizens from faulty and or substandard goods.
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Can blockchain stem the tide of counterfeit drugs in India?
Counterfeit drugs are a multi-billion dollar problem. Now pharma companies are looking for a technological solution, could blockchain be the answer?
The manufacture and distribution of fake prescription drugs is a global problem. Counterfeit products are causing a lot of damage to economies, industries, consumer health and safety. From the perspective of companies, they know they will suffer revenue and reputational losses whilst also incurring extra expenses for regulations, brand protection and legal advice if a solution to counterfeit drugs is not found.
In the best case scenarios, these fake drugs can be sugar pills that will have none of the effects of the drugs they are supposed to replicate. In the worst cases, the drugs can contain high quantities of dangerous substances, such as paint, antifreeze or fentanyl, which can be fatal for unsuspecting consumers who bought the pills online.
The World Health Organization estimates that counterfeit drug revenue is currently at around $200bn and approximately 10%-15% of global pharmaceutical trading involves counterfeit drugs sold on the black market, internet or directly to patients via prescriptions. Since 2013, the organisation had received approximately 1,500 reports of fake and low-quality products as of April 2018. This year, the US Food and Drug Administration had to arrange a meeting regarding the problem of illegal opioids being sold online through unofficial websites and social media platforms.
The largest majority of counterfeit medications come from India, China and the US.
India is the third largest producer of generic drugs and vaccines and exports to almost 200 countries, accounting for 10% of the world’s drug production rates. However, the nation is also a global epicentre for counterfeit drugs, with WHO estimating that one in five drugs sold in the country are fake. Now, an international partnership is bringing together IT giant Oracle, policy institute NITI Aayog, Apollo Hospitals and pharma manufacturer Strides Pharma Sciences to pilot a pioneering drug supply chain using blockchain digital ledger technology to try and tackle the issue.
Lear MoreThree People Arrested With Silver Worth Rs. 75 Lakh On Telangana Express.
A Railway Protection Force (RPF) team of Northern Railway arrested three people on-board Telangana Express with a cache of silver worth Rs. 75 lakh.
The three were travelling in a coach meant for disabled people, with seven packages containing the silver. The officials seized 262 kg of silver from them.
“During checking at Ballabgarh Railway Station on December 10, at 8:20 am, the team of RPF outpost Ballabgarh apprehended three persons in disabled coach. During interrogation, they disclosed that they are carrying white raw metal and white metal ornaments for which they did not present any documents. Besides, they were travelling ticketless,” a statement from the railway ministry said.
The three were booked under Section 155B of the Railways Act and a case has been registered at RPF outpost in Ballabgarh.
Lear MoreGold worth Rs 89.59L seized from Indian flier.
Two gold bars and two pieces of gold valued at Rs 89.59 lakh were seized from an Indian passenger by customs officials at Mumbai international airport, officials said on Sunday.
According to officials of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), an Indian passenger identified as Naveen was intercepted on arrival from Dubai around 2.45 am on Saturday on receipt of specific inputs that he was smuggling in gold bars. After sustained questioning, Naveen admitted he had brought some gold bars hidden in Jet Airways flight 9W 543, which arrived from Dubai.
“We searched the aircraft and found two gold bars weighing 1kg each, and two cut pieces of gold strapped to the metal frame under his seat in the aircraft. They weighed 3,000 grams in total, and were valued at Rs 89.59 lakh,” a senior AIU official said.
Lear More4 Arrested At Chennai Airport With Gold Worth 30 Lakh In Rectum.
Four people have been arrested at the Chennai International Airport for trying to smuggle into the country 929 grams of gold worth Rs. 30 lakh concealed in their rectum, a customs department official said Sunday.
Muthuraman Poominadhan, 21, Sahul Hameed, 42, Mujib Rahman, 50, Kalandar Abbas, 27, all Indian passport holders, were intercepted upon their arrival from Colombo on Saturday night, the official said.
“During interrogation, the accused admitted to have concealed the gold in their rectums. Four 24-karat gold ingots weighing 929 grams, were seized from them,” he said, their passports were confiscated and further investigation was underway.
In another case, a 50-year-old “repeat offender”, travelling from Dubai, was arrested on Sunday morning for attempting to smuggle in 580 grams of gold worth Rs. 19 lakh, another customs official said.
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Taxman impounds Rwf590m worth of smuggled products.
Smuggled products worth Rwf590 million were impounded in the 2017/18 fiscal year, Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) has said.
According to Faustin Niyigaba, the Acting Deputy Commissioner for Revenue Investigation and Enforcement department at RRA, the smuggled products included food, beverages, second hand clothes and illegal drugs among others.
He was speaking after RRA signed an agreement with Gicumbi district and three youth cooperatives to fight smuggling and drug dealing at the Rwanda-Uganda borders in the Northern Province.
The cooperatives comprise of some former drug dealers and smugglers.
They include Tujyembere Rubyiruko cooperative from Kaniga sector, Imbere Heze of Cyumba sector as well as Duterimbere Rubyiruko of Rushaki sector.
https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/taxman-impounds-rwf590m-worth-smuggled-products
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Gold seizures double, raise fears of rise in smuggling.
Gold smuggling seems to be on the rise as seizures by the Customs Department has doubled in one year.
According to data compiled by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the total quantity of gold seized by the Customs in 2017-18 was 3,223 kg valued at ₹974 crore, an increase of 103 per cent from 1,422 kg valued at ₹472 crore seized in 2016-17.
Unofficial estimates suggest that seizure forms any thing between 5 and 10 per cent of the total illegal trade. Considering this, smuggling of gold could be up to 30 tonnes during the last fiscal with a value of over ₹9,000 crore. The agency is taking all steps to check innovative ways of smuggling.
According to the publication ‘Smuggling in India Report 2017-18’ by DRI, a large part of the domestic gold market is being served by the illicit smuggling of gold. Majority of seizures made by the DRI has been those imported through India’s land borders in cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, which are high consumption centres of smuggled gold.
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