How we seized N120 million ‘fake products’ in Lagos, Benin, Enugu roads — Customs
The Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘C’, FOUC, of the Nigeria Customs Service on Monday said it has seized fake and contraband products valued at over N120 million between July and August this year.
The Public Relations Officer, PRO, Jerry Atta, made this known in a statement to newsmen in Owerri.
Customs said the importation of foreign rice was against the Federal Government’s agricultural policies adding that smugglers would be dealt with.
However, he said some of the fake products were intercepted in several places, including the Okada-Benin expressway, Lagos -Benin expressway and Port Harcourt expressway.
According to Customs, some of the fake products were, “130 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice valued at N5,460,000m and 2,181 cartons of foreign cosmetic products without a registration number from the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) valued at N76,335,000 intercepted along the Okada/ Benin expressway.
Lear MoreBOC begins destruction of P7 billion worth of seized counterfeit goods
The Bureau of Customs-Port of Manila said they had started destroying over P7 billion worth of counterfeit goods in Valenzuela City.
In a Monday statement, the BOC said that the items were seized in Bagong Milenyo in Pasay City and had a value of P7,429,638,000.
The goods were composed of fake designer shoes, clothing, and beauty products.
The BOC said those behind the counterfeit items would face charges for violation of the Intellectual Property Law.
“As the Bureau of Customs continues to secure the nation’s borders, the Port of Manila under the guidance of BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo remains steadfast in its campaign against smuggling,” it said.
Lear MoreCops seize liquor smuggled from UT
Aurangabad: The state excise department raided a house in Satara area of the city on Friday, and seized liquor worth Rs 2.77 lakh that was meant to be sold only in the Union Territory of Dadra Nagar Haveli. Arrested accused has been identified as Rushikesh Thayde of Pruthvinagar, of the Satara area. This is the second major action by the state excise department in the past four days.
During the raid, the state excise team found 500 bottles of various foreign liquor brands as well as 27 bottles of beer. State excise superintendent Sudhakar Kadam, maintained that three days back his team intercepted a car at Sawangi toll plaza on Aurangabad-Jalgaon highway.
The police caught a person Kapil Rathod of Shahnoomiyan Dargah Road who was illegally carrying foreign liquor. The liquor found was meant to be sold only in the Union territory of Dadra Nagar Haveli. The state excise team seized over 500 liquor bottles along with the car. The total valuation was over Rs 11 lakh. Currently Rathod, who is accused is undergoing his six days of police custody.
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Smuggled goods worth $47.5m discovered in a week
TEHRAN – Smuggled goods worth 2 trillion rials (nearly $47.5 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) have been seized across the country over the past week, through the ninth phase of a nationwide plan to fight against smuggling.
Under the plan, police detectives identified the location of the depot through round-the-clock efforts and specialized actions, Mohammad Reza Moghimi, the police chief, said on Sunday.
More than 12 million types of smuggled goods, including basic goods, home appliances, electronic equipment, car, and mobile phone accessories, etc., along with 420,796 liters of all kinds of smuggled fuels and petroleum products discovered, IRNA reported.
He went on to say that essential goods worth 2 trillion rials (around $47.5 million) have been discovered, while 621 vehicles and 1,403 criminals were arrested during the implementation of the plan.
Most recently, some 2.9 trillion rials (nearly $70 million) worth of smuggled goods has been seized across the country in May.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/465228/Smuggled-goods-worth-47-5m-discovered-in-a-week
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Gold, electronic goods seized from passenger at Chennai airport
CHENNAI: Customs officials seized 390 gram of gold and electronic goods worth Rs 22.31 lakh from a passenger at Chennai airport on Friday. The passenger was arrested.
Based on intelligence, a 53-year-old-man, who arrived from Sharjah in an Air Arabia flight (G9-473), was intercepted at the exit by customs air intelligence unit (AIU) officers.
On personal search and examination of the passenger, one gold chain weighing 80 gram was recovered from his pants pocket. A gold bundle weighing 310 gram and worth Rs 16.3 lakh was recovered from his rectum.
Further, electronic goods worth Rs 6 lakh which were not declared by the passenger and carried in his check-in baggage were also recovered. The total value of the seized items is Rs 22.31 lakh. They were seized under the Customs Act ,1962.
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Illegal liquor seized, one arrested in Alipurduar
On Friday, Ahmed was produced in a court and remanded in police custody for seven days
Police seized illegal Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth around Rs 9 lakh and arrested a person in this connection from Birpara in Alipuduar district on Thursday.
“Our team intercepted a truck heading to Siliguri from Assam. As the vehicle was searched, 12,000 foreign liquor bottles worth around Rs 9 lakh was found. We have seized the vehicle and arrested driver Feroz Ahmed, who hails from Kanpur, after he failed to furnish any document to prove that the consignment is legal. We suspect the driver is associated with a racket that smuggles liquor to different states,” said a police officer.
On Friday, Ahmed was produced in a Alipurduar court and remanded in police custody for seven days.
In Siliguri, two persons were held with 21.6 kilo of cannabis estimated at Rs 1.25 lakh from Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus on Thursday.
Police said Dipankar Mallick and Anil Ram, both residents of Siliguri, had travelled from Cooch Behar.
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Mizoram: Foreign cigarettes worth 19.5 lakh seized in Champhai
The operation was carried out by a joint team of Assam Rifles and Customs Department.
In a massive recovery 15 cases foreign cigarettes were seized from Champhai District of Mizoram.
The foreign cigarrettes were estimated to cost Rs 19,50,000.
The operation was carried out by a joint team of Assam Rifles and Customs Department.
Lear MoreCapacity Building Programme for State Excise Officials on Prevention of Counterfeiting and Smuggling
Focus State: Rajasthan
15 September 2021 | Medium: VIRTUAL
The practice of illicit trade involving counterfeiting and smuggling not only inflict monetary losses on individuals but also damages the national economy, have security implications, and jeopardize consumer’s health. FICCI’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE) organised a capacity building programme on Prevention of Counterfeiting and Smuggling for the excise officers of Rajasthan on 15th September 2021. The programme was organised to sensitize the officers on the socio-economic impact of illicit and spurious alcohol, facilitate better engagement and cooperation of industry members and excise officers to prevent this menace.
Mr. P C Jha, Advisor FICCI CASCADE and Former Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs gave an overview on Socio-Economic Impact of Counterfeiting & Smuggling. While highlighting this issue, Mr. Jha said that for every manufactured product there exists a counterfeit in the market and to tackle this problem effective coordination and cooperation among different stakeholders such as government, enforcement agencies, industry, consumers, media is the need of the hour.
Dr. Joga Ram, IAS, Excise Commissioner, Rajasthan State Excise Department, Government of Rajasthan in his keynote address said, “In order to prevent illicit trade of liquor the state of Rajasthan has taken various measures such as introducing excise preventive force to monitor the mobility and smuggling of alcoholic beverages between states; implementing track and trace system where each legal bottle or carton is traced from the place of production till the place of consumption; introduction of Navjeevan Scheme for providing resources of livelihood to people engaged in manufacturing, storing and sale of illicit liquor, etc.”.
The uncertain situation of global crisis in the year 2020 made illicit trade as a matter of serious concern. While the government was committed towards fighting the health crisis, the perpetrators of the illicit trade used this as an opportunity to expand and intensify their operations. Since the onset of the pandemic enforcement agencies have raided and seized smuggled, spurious and counterfeited medicines, healthcare products, cosmetics, electronic goods, alcohols, packaged goods and several other items.
Mr. Deep Chand, IPS (Retd), Former Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi and Advisor, FICCI CASCADE while addressing the session praised the alert excise authorities of Rajasthan who have raided counterfeit liquor production units and seized huge volumes of spurious liquor during these unprecedented times. “However, with increased number of seizures being reported every day, it is highly possible that the total seizure may just be the tip of the iceberg of a much larger network. Hence, it is extremely important that our enforcement agencies keep up their already impressive work,” he further added.
Capacity building programme organized by FICCI CASCADE is an ongoing exercise that plays an instrumental role in motivating and enabling the law enforcement agencies to understand the gravity of the problem and take requisite actions against the perpetrators.
Assam: Over 1,400 cartons of liquor bottles worth Rs 46 lakh destroyed on court’s order
Over 1,400 cartons of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) bottles worth Rs 46 lakh were destroyed by the Assam government on court’s order in Guwahati.
The IMFL bottles were seized by Bureau of Investigation (BIEO) Assam during a 2017 raid in Guwahati. The liquor bottles were kept in a bonded warehouse at Lalmati area in the capital city of Assam.
The excise department and BIEO on Tuesday destroyed the seized IMFL bottles in presence of a Magistrate.
A top official of BIEO said the agency raided godown premises of a liquor baron located near Sarusajai stadium in Guwahati in 2017 and recovered 1,405 cartons of different brands of IMFL.
“We had registered a case (no 17/2017) in connection with it and filed chargesheet before the court. The court had directed us to destroy the seized liquor bottles on September 14 this year. Following directive of the court, we have destroyed the seized liquor bottles. The market value of the seized liquor is estimated at around Rs 46.21 lakh,” the BIEO official said.
Earlier, the Assam government had destroyed a huge quantity of seized drugs worth Rs 163 crore.
Lear MoreCustoms officers seize $57 million in counterfeit designer watches
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ/Press Release) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Port of Louisville seized 32 separate shipments containing counterfeit designer watches worth $57.84 million.
CBP officers inspected all these parcels to determine if the goods were admissible in accordance with CBP regulations.
The officers found a total of 2,168 designer watches determined to be counterfeit by CBP’s trade experts at the Centers of Excellence and Expertise. All the watches originated from Hong Kong and were destined for several addresses across the U.S.
Two of the more notable seizures were destined for the same business in Flushing, New York.
The first shipment contained 958 counterfeit Rolex watches that would have been worth $8.4 million, while the second shipment contained 1,000 more counterfeit Rolex watches that could have been worth $40.6 million.
Other seizures included 4 counterfeit Richard Mille watches that, if they were real, would have been worth $766,000 and another shipment contained 93 various counterfeit designer watches worth $3 million.
https://www.wtvq.com/2021/09/13/customs-officers-seize-57-million-in-counterfeit-designer-watches/
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