Author: adminficci

3 individuals charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods in Florida

Three Florida men were charged in three separate indictments for trafficking in counterfeit goods. They face up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $2 million. The cases were investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Dale Borders, 38, of Orlando, is charged with trafficking in counterfeit DVDs bearing the trademarks of Beachbody LLC, Disney Enterprises Inc. and Zumba Fitness LLC. Gary T. Mannix, 59, of Daytona Beach, Fla., is charged with trafficking in counterfeit sports merchandise and National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletics Association and Major League Baseball jerseys.  Mohamed El Said Mohamed, 37, of Ormond Beach, Fla. According to court documents, he admitted to trafficking more than 1,000 counterfeit handbags, jewelry, watches and wallets bearing trademarks of Coach, Fendi, Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1210/121011orlando.htm

Government to warn motorists about counterfeit air bags

The Obama administration is preparing to warn car owners whose air bags have been replaced in the past three years that dangerous counterfeit bags may have been installed, according to auto industry officials who have been briefed by the government.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration alerted the industry in a series of telephone briefings on Tuesday that tens of thousands of car owners may be driving vehicles with counterfeit air bags. NHTSA testing has shown some of the counterfeit bags don’t inflate or fail to inflate properly. In at least one case, a counterfeit bag fired shards of plastic and other projectiles on impact. NHTSA will ask car owners to check a government website, Safercar.gov, or call their manufacturer or local dealership to learn if their vehicle model is among those for which counterfeit air bags have been made. The agency has compiled a draft list of dozens of vehicle makes and models for which counterfeit air bags may be available. NHTSA cautions at the top of the draft that the agency “expects this list to evolve over time”. If the car is on the list and has had its air bags replaced during the past three years by a repair shop other than a new car dealership, owners will be asked to bring the vehicle into a dealership to determine whether the replaced air bags are counterfeit.

A wide variety of counterfeit auto parts has long been a well-known problem, industry officials said. But recent incidents have escalated concern by government officials. In August, federal agents confiscated nearly 1,600 counterfeit air bags and arrested a North Carolina auto mechanic. Last February, Dai Zhensong, a Chinese citizen, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court in Chattanooga, Tenn., to 37 months in prison for trafficking in counterfeit air bags.  Zhensong was a part owner and manager of the international department of Guangzhou Auto Parts, which made a variety of auto parts, many of which were counterfeit, the statement said. In 2010, he traveled from China to Chattanooga to sell additional counterfeit air bags and other auto parts. The counterfeit air bags were manufactured by purchasing genuine auto air bags that were torn down and used to produce molds to manufacture the counterfeit bags. Trademark emblems were purchased through Honda, Toyota, Audi, BMW and other dealerships located in China and affixed to the counterfeit air bags. The air bags were advertised on the Guangzhou Auto Parts website and sold for approximately $50 to $70 each, far below the value of an authentic air bag.

Cops seize fake electronic goods from Ritchie Street shops

A special team of the CB-CID’s  Video Piracy Cell was formed following a complaint lodged by the Constituted Attorney of SanDisk Corporation Limited of USA,  alleging that a large quantity of duplicate computer goods were illegally  sold in the Ritchie Street market. The special team conducted raid and  seized fake electronic equipment from shops in Ritchie Street on Wednesday. It seized fake memory cards, USB drives and other computer accessories sold in the name of a well-known US-based firm. Duplicate packaging material, hologram stickers and MRP stickers were also  found. Over Rs.11 lakh worth of fake goods were seized. Three persons were also arrested.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/cops-seize-fake-electronic-goods-from-ritchie-street-shops/article3939458.ece

Fake phones and tablets seized from Ritchie St.

After a recent raid carried out by a CB-CID team at Richie Street, it was found that fraudsters had created software to program Chinese handsets to look like original handsets and tablets of Samsung. Over 300 handsets and 65 tablets worth Rs. 14 lakh were seized and six persons were arrested. The culprits had programmed the phones and tablets in a way that the Samsung display appeared when switched on. All the other applications in the phones and tablets have been replicated and in a final touch to the fraud they pasted fake logos and packed the equipment to make them look original.

Interpol wants to join the ‘fake drugs’ battle, Indian government fights shy

The International Criminal Police Organisation, popularly known as Interpol, wants to assist the Indian government in its effort to clamp down on the alleged ‘fake drugs’ network in the country. While the France-headquartered agency wants New Delhi and India’s generic drug companies to sign up for the Interpol Global Register (IGR) to facilitate tracking the illicit drugs trail, the government is wary of any move to link intellectual property rights (IPR) issues with the scourge of counterfeiting.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/interpol-wants-to-join-the-fake-drugs-battle-indian-government-fights-shy/1004126/

Chemists to become new drug-busters

After the failure of India’s most ambitious whistleblower policy to handsomely reward those who help seize spurious, adulterated and misbranded drugs, cosmetics and medical devices. Dr Singh has decided to rope in India’s seven lakh chemist outlets to help government check the commercial sale of fake or spurious drugs. Dr G N Singh, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)   is travelling to Chandigarh on Sunday to make an open plea to chemists during his address at the executive meeting of the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists an apex body of nearly 7.5 lakh members involved in wholesale and retail trade of pharmaceutical products.

Legal hassles impede auction of seized contraband Seized smuggled goods worth crores expire pending due clearances

Authorities in the country are facing a unique problem of storing and disposing of seized contraband, including high-quality liquor, international brands of cigarettes and firecrackers.The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has found that high-quality liquor and international brands of cigarettes are being smuggled in containers of various goods shipped to India from China and Dubai. Most of such products reach the black market. DRI’s total seizure of smuggled cigarettes and alcohol this year is worth around Rs 4.94 crore.The Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR), which operates the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in the country, is also the custodian of the goods smuggled in those containers. The Customs authorities are entitled to auction the seized products after settling various legal issues. However, in many cases, the procedure takes too much of time and most brands of cigarettes cross their expiry date (usually six months) before these could be auctioned.From China and Dubai, the smuggled goods enter India mainly through the two
main trading ports at Mumbai. These are also smuggled via ports at Gujarat, Kochi, Chennai, Vishakapatnam and Kolkata. From the coastal areas, the containers are taken to Delhi by road or by rail.The DRI seized a consignment 1500 bottles of Black Label whisky, 864 bottles of Chivas Regal and 600 bottles of Grey Goose Vodka at Mumbai on October 3. The goods were hidden in a cavity in the container that carried iron-mesh wires. The liquor, worth Rs 1.44 crore, was sent from China.On November 1, the DRI seized a consignment of 50 lakh UK brand Maiwand cigarettes, and 30 lakh Gudang Garam Indonesian cigarettes. The Rs 3.5-crore consignment, which arrived from Dubai, was seized at the Tughlakabad Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Delhi.Another product smuggled into India is the R-22 gas, a refrigerant, which is a restricted item due to its ozone-depleting qualities. There is a high demand for this product in India since the Director General of Foreign Trade is known to have licensed only few companies to export and import it.In May, the DRI seized eight containers of smuggled R-22 gas cylinders and air-conditioners. The cylinders were sent from Malaysia. The DRI also seized a sizeable consignment of firecrackers from China in September this year.Sources say “a very small percentage of the smuggled goods is caught, the rest hit the black market, because it is not possible to check all the containers”. The good seized this year are yet to be auctioned.”The government would receive a handsome amount of revenue if the smuggled goods are auctioned. But this rarely happens, as the courts do not give permission, demanding that the seized container be brought to the court. Although this would be evidence to book the culprits, it is difficult to bring a 40-feet container inside a courtroom. And when the judge does not see it, he can’t approve the auctioning of the goods,” sources said.

On-Dosage and On-Packaging Solutions To Combat Counterfeit Medicine.

The number of counterfeit medicines seized at border customs checks is increasing dramatically and concerns all countries, including the ones with well established and legitimate supply chains. The adoption of security features for protection of pharmaceutical products against counterfeiting becomes necessary. Such features must not be confused with serialization codes, barcodes, matrix codes or even RFID tags. These technologies are being used to track and trace pharmaceutical products along the supply chain rather than to locate counterfeits.

Due to the variety of packaging means used for medicines (carton boxes, blister packs, plastic bottles, syringes, glass vials with flip-off tops, etc.) it is necessary to adapt the security solutions to these different types of packaging and dosage.

https://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/doc/on-dosage-and-on-packaging-solutions-to-0002