43 kg gold worth Rs 21 crore seized in Imphal, two persons arrested
New Delhi: In a major operation by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) against an organised smuggling syndicate, 43.12 kg of smuggled gold valued at Rs 20.95 crores was seized on Wednesday (June 26) in Imphal, Manipur.
Two persons were arrested and one vehicle was seized in the operation that was carried out by the DRI Guwahati zonal unit.
Acting on specific information, DRI Imphal unit intercepted one vehicle carrying two occupants in the early hours of Wednesday after mounting a prolonged surveillance near the city.
Lear MoreShipments of fake AirPods valued at $331,360 seized in Louisville by federal officers
Eight shipments of suspected fake AirPods from Hong Kong were intercepted in Louisville recently, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a set of tips to avoid counterfeit goods.
In total, officers found 817 pairs of earbuds labeled as “Bluetooth audio devices” that appeared to violate the protected trademark for Apple AirPods, according to a release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP. The shipments were coming from Hong Kong and headed for Georgia, New York, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and New Jersey, according to CBP. Some were also headed to Canada.
https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article252176638.html
Lear More
Cops held 3, seize fake currency worth 3.4L
Ludhiana: Khanna police has arrested three miscreants after it recovered fake currency from them. The accused were identified as Ashu of Krishna Nagar in Khanna, Mandeep Tandon Sunny of Basant Nagar in Khanna and Vikas Vicky of Uttam Nagar in the same area.
Giving details on Monday, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khanna Gursharandeep Singh Grewal said as part of special campaign by Khanna police against drug trafficking and misdemeanors, a police team, working on a tip-off had apprehended the accused while they were waiting near military ground Shiv Mandir Khanna to deliver counterfeit Indian currency notes to someone. He added that during frisking, Rs 3.4 lakh counterfeit Indian currency notes were recovered from their possession.
Lear More
3 held for printing fake currency in Ludhiana
Khanna police arrested three men for printing and circulating fake notes. Counterfeit notes amounting to ₹3.04 lakh were recovered from their possession.
The arrested accused were identified as Ashu of Krishna Nagar of Bhagat Singh Colony; Mandeep Singh alias Mani of Basant Nagar and Vikas alias Vicky of Uttar Nagar. The accused are between 25 to 27 years of age.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP, Khanna) Rajan Parminder Singh, said that the cops arrested the accused from the military ground in Khanna on Sunday.
Lear More
PS5s, iPhones, Laptops Worth 2.5 Crores Seized By Delhi Customs, Items Were Misdeclared as Household Goods
Delhi Customs ACC Export Commissioner has seized iPhones, PS5s, and laptops worth Rs 2.50 Crore.
PS5 was launched back in the fall of 2020 and it took its sweet time to hit the Indian market, even after launching in the country only a handful of users were able to grab the device. The restock of the gaming console is still uncertain and amid all this, a piece of jaw-dropping news surfaced on the web. Delhi Customs Twitter handle has shared a post suggesting that ACC Export Commissioner has seized gadgets and consoles worth Rs 2.50 Crore. Yes! You read it correctly and this news is not fake because the official Twitter handle has shared all the pictures of the devices which are seized by the customs officers. Let’s have a closer look at the news.
https://www.mysmartprice.com/gear/ps5s-iphones-laptops-worth-2-5-crores-seized-delhi-customs/
Lear More
Madhya Pradesh: Fake currency with face value of Rs 2.53 lakh seized in Indore, 1 held
INDORE: Police on Wednesday arrested a man and seized fake currency notes with face value of Rs 2.53 lakh from his possession.
The accused had printed the notes in denominations of Rs 100, 500 and 2,000 on a colour printer and had circulated fake currency with face value of around Rs 20,000 among unsuspecting shopkeepers in the rural areas.
Police got a tip-off about a man attempting to circulate fake currency in a local vegetable market following which a trap was laid, DIG Manish Kapooria told reporters.
Police arrested Rajratan Tayade, 25, a resident of Azaad Nagar area and seized a bag containing the fake currency.
Tayade told police that he had scanned the original currency and printed them on A4 size papers at his rented room. These were cut to the size of currency notes, before circulation.
The accused was employed at a club, but had lost his job during Covid-19 lockdown, Kapooria said adding he had got the idea of printing the currency notes from online videos.
The accused has circulated fake currency with face value of around Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 – mostly in Rs 100 denominations — in the rural markets.
Lear More
Assam Rifles seizes smuggled foreign origin cigarettes worth over Rs 29 lakh in Mizoram, nabs 2
In their continued efforts against smuggling activities, the Assam Rifles troops deployed in Mizoram seized a consignment of smuggled foreign origin cigarettes.
The operation was carried out on Tuesday by the Serchhip Battalion under the aegis of Headquarters Inspector General Assam Rifles (East), the HQ IGAR (East) said in a press statement.
During the operation, a total of 23 cases of foreign origin cigarettes were seized in the general area of Chhungte in Champhai district of Mizoram.
The operation was carried out by a joint team of Assam Rifles and Customs Preventive Force Champhai based on specific information, the Assam Rifles statement said.
It is estimated that the seized foreign origin cigarettes would cost Rs 29.90 lakh in the international market. The Customs Preventive Force Champhai seized the contraband items and detained two individuals in connection with the seizure.
Lear MoreFake AirPods and Cartier Bracelets Totaling $5.3 Million Seized by Cincinnati CBP
CINCINNATI–-On May 13th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Cincinnati intercepted two large shipments of Bluetooth audio devices and found 23,900 earbuds that appeared to be in violation of Apple’s protected AirPods configurations. Officers reached out to import specialists from CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise who ultimately determined the merchandise was not genuine and violated Apple’s recorded trademark rights.
Apple has configuration trademarks on their AirPods products and has recorded those trademarks with CBP. Furthermore, a company does not have to put the “Apple” wordmark or design on their products to violate the three-dimensional trademark. In this instance, further inspection of the earbuds revealed that their shape and design were identical to the Apple AirPods configuration.
The earbuds had a declared value of $5,280, but the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price would have been $3.8 million had they been genuine. The shipments, which were coming from Hong Kong, were destined to an address in Dayton, KY.
Lear MoreWorld Anti-Counterfeiting Day
08/06/2021
FICCI’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE) organised a webinar on ‘Consumer Protection in the COVID Age’ on the occasion of World Anti-Counterfeiting Day on 8th June 2021. This day enables national and international organizations involved in the fight against counterfeit products to increase consumer awareness of the risks and costs associated with buying fakes, and to encourage consumers to better understand the seriousness of the problem.
Mr Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE welcomed all the participants and stated, “the Covid-19 virus and illicit trade have a lot in common, both cause immense economic, social and individual distress.” Applauding the enforcement officers who have relentlessly pursued the smugglers and counterfeiters; and seized many contraband and fake products during the current crisis, Mr Rajput urged them to keep up the good work which would ensure that the perpetrators of crime did not see the covid-19 situation as a reason to exploit vulnerable consumers and organizations.
Mr Hem Kumar Pande, Former Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, GoI chaired the session and observed that consumer awareness has become an important part of the anti-counterfeiting strategy in developed economies. On the flipside, in developing countries, it is still a major challenge. “The ‘Jaago Grahak Jaago’ campaign of the Indian Government has received reasonable success with urban consumers looking out for the safety and genuineness of the product. But we still have a long way to go to inculcate and develop a sense of responsibility amongst the rural consumer base”, he added.
Mr Shibesh Singh, Additional Commissioner (Crime), Delhi Police said, “there has been a significant rise of frauds against public during the second wave of the coronavirus”. During the recent wave of the pandemic, he said, the Delhi police were able to block almost 550 fraud bank accounts, seized more than 1.25 crore rupees, and suspended almost 1500 sim cards. Highlighting the problem of black marketing and selling of counterfeit, fake, spurious covid cure products, Mr Singh said, “with the help of local enforcement agencies, Delhi police arrested more than 300 black marketeers and broke the backbone of COVID related crime syndicate”.
Emphasizing the unwavering efforts of the DRI officers during the unprecedented coronavirus crisis, Mr Rajesh Pandey, Principal Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said, “during the pandemic year, DRI has seized 984 Kgs of gold & illicit cigarette sticks worth more than Rs. 100 crores along with seizures a large amount of heroin, cocaine, hashish, opium, and synthetic drugs.” He added that the Covid 19 pandemic impacted manufacturing and trade, and the gap was filled with counterfeit and smuggled products. Hence, law enforcement and trade & industry must work more closely so that illicit activities can be neutralised to a great extent.
Commemorating this year’s World Anti-Counterfeiting Day, the FICCI CASCADE’s webinar marks a crucial milestone to further discuss how amid the COVID emergency, counterfeiting has changed over the past months, while looking at the anti-illicit efforts that are needed in the coming days. Industry panellists from Amazon, Johnson and Johnson and Underwriters Laboratories agreed that the ultimate goal should be to identify and sever illicit products and their sellers before they have a chance to create a negative experience for our consumers. Amazon, for example, have blocked 10 billion suspected sellers and seized more than 2 million products.
Moreover, it was agreed that a co-ordinated action is the need of the hour as no single company or sector can fight counterfeiting alone. While legitimate manufacturers hold the information necessary to distinguish their products from the fakes in the market, E-commerce platforms have information about the third-party sellers dealing in fake products. Likewise, search providers have a broad view of how actors can move across different platforms, while payment providers are a critical part in tracing illicit gains to counterfeiters and cutting off their access. Input from each of these sources is necessary to allow both the government and private sector to have full insight into the paths of counterfeit and smuggled goods; and to track those who are responsible.
Routine Vehicle Check Yields Fake Currency Notes Worth Rs 53 Lakh
A routine vehicle check by Gandhinagar police yielded a large consignment of fake currency notes worth Rs 53.8 lakh. A man and woman were arrested by Mansa police. Interestingly, the duo had learnt to print fake notes online from YouTube.
Mansa police intercepted a two-wheeler on April 30. On checking the bag of the rider, cops found brand new currency notes in the denomination of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 100. Suspecting the currency to be fake, further investigation revealed that Santoshkumar Raval (40) had stacked Rs 53.8 lakh fake currency notes at his residence.
Accused led two lives with wife, paramour
Raval’s interrogation revealed he lived with his wife and son while being in a relationship with one Vaishali Chaudhary. Raval ran two households, one with his wife and son and another with Vaishali. He came in contact with Vaishali who taught at a tuition class where his son studied. He had entered into a relationship with Vaishali seven years ago. Raval and Vaishali hatched a conspiracy to print fake currency notes. Raval scanned the currency notes and printed them while Vaishali cut the notes using a paper cutter.
Mansa PI Jatin Prajapati said, “The accused had printed more than Rs 53 lakh worth of fake currency notes but were yet to put it into circulation.”
Lear More