Fake COVID testing kits seized from 77 countries in international trafficking crackdown
Police have seized 17,000 fake COVID-19 testing kits discovered in raids against illicit food and drink products across dozens of countries, Interpol said Wednesday.
Officials seized $40 million (34.5 million euros) worth of fake or substandard products in 77 countries, and arrested 407 people in the operation, carried out from December 2019 to June 2020.
The products included contaminated dairy products, meat from illegally slaughtered animals and food products falsely labelled as medicinal cures, said Interpol, based in the southeastern French city of Lyon.
But police also intercepted thousands of fake medical products as countries worldwide rushed to secure supplies while locking down to curtail the coronavirus pandemic.
“As countries around the world continue their efforts to contain COVID-19, the criminal networks distributing these potentially dangerous products show only their determination to make a profit,” the agency’s secretary general Jurgen Stock said in a statement.
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Over P107M worth of smuggled cigarettes seized at Port of Davao
MANILA, Philippines — Smuggled cigarettes amounting to more than P107 million were seized at the Port of Davao, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported Tuesday.
In coordination with authorities from the BOC Intelligence Group (IG) and Enforcement Group, the BOC-Port of Davao seized four 40-footer containers that contained illegally imported cigarettes valued at Php 107,414,676.74.
Citing intelligence reports, BOC said the first two containers arrived at the Davao International Container Terminal (DICT) on July 10 and were said to contain 2,180 boxes of brand-new tissue papers.
However, subsequent information received from IG and EG led to the issuance of a Pre-Lodgment Control Order (PLCO) after discovering that no goods declaration was lodged by the consignee, Golden Aark Enterprises, and that there could be possible misdeclaration of the said commodity, BOC said.
The containers were subsequently inspected and yielded misdeclaration of goods as 1,205 boxes Astro Branded Cigarettes and 942 boxes of YS filter cigarettes were discovered and seized on July 14.
Lear More230 kg gold smuggled through diplomatic channel
Investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have revealed that the Swapna-Sarith-Faisal gang had smuggled 230 kg of gold from Dubai through the diplomatic channel.
Of this, only one consignment of 30kg was intercepted, while the investigators are in pursuit of the rest.
In fact, before the clandestine plan was put into operation, the gang had sent a dummy bag in the name of the UAE consulate to see that everything worked smoothly.
The Dubai mastermind, Faisal Fareed, is already in the custody of the Dubai Police and is expected to be handed over to India any time soon.
The investigators have inspected the flat of the attache at the UAE consulate, who has returned to his country, in search of clues. They are trying to ascertain if the suspects had visited the house and have checked the visitor’s register there.
The investigators are also looking at the role of ground handling agencies at the airports in abetting the crime. An ex-employee of Air India Sats, in charge of ground handling, claimed that all the smugglers, with assistance from higher authorities, had planted pliable people in sensitive departments in the airport so that they could smoothly manage the racket.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/230-kg-gold-smuggled-through-diplomatic-channel
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Two more financiers of gold smuggling held
KOCHI: The Customs on Friday arrested two more persons who allegedly funded the purchase of 30kg of gold which was smuggled in a diplomatic baggage from the UAE that arrived at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. They are Aboobacker Pazedath, 60, of Pezhadath House at Pazhamallur near Koottilangadi in Malappuram and Abdul Hameed P M, 54, of Padikkamannil House at Koottilangadi. Four suspected financiers were arrested in the last two days.
According to Customs officials, both were summoned to the office following a statement given by Said Alavi, another accused, and their arrests were recorded after interrogation. Both were produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offence) Court and remanded. “Both persons were active smugglers in 1980-1990. They themselves had smuggled gold and foreign goods. After they were caught by the Customs, they stopped the illegal activity and started running small-scale businesses in their native places,” a Customs official said. Following the financial crisis due to the lockdown, they invested money in gold smuggling recently. “Both have invested more than Rs 1 crore. They were expecting double the amount once the gold reached the end buyers,” an officer said.
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Counterfeit crackdown nets $242M in fake products
Shanghai police have a message for would-be operators selling bogus goods — sooner or later, you will be caught.
Police reportedly seized copycat products worth more than 1.7 billion yuan (US$242 million) this year, destroying some 240 dens that produce, store or sell counterfeit items, The Global Times reported.
During a special campaign focusing on cracking down on intellectual property (IP) violations codenamed “Kunlun 2020,” police in Shanghai said they have solved more than 230 related cases, and protected the legitimate rights and interests of more than 60 brands, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
One of the latest cases involved counterfeit bags of famous brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Chanel worth more than 50 million yuan, Global Times reported
Shanghai police have arrested and charged nine suspects, responsible for making the bags and selling them through online stores, said CCTV.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/counterfeit-crackdown-nets-242m-in-fake-products/
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Fake injections racket busted in Gujarat
Gujarat’s Food and Drugs Control Administration on Saturday unearthed a racket of selling fake and spurious Tocilizumab injections in Surat and Ahmedabad.
The FDCA busted the racket about a week after another racket of selling life saving injections at a high rate was unearthed in the state.
Four persons have been arrested in connection with the latest case. Raids were conducted in Surat and it was found that one Sohel Ismail Tai manufactured spurious drugs under the name of Genic Pharma. Machines, ampules and API worth Rs 8 lakh were seized.
Commissioner, FDCA, Dr. H.G. Koshia said that the first source of information was one Dr Devang Shah. He had prescribed the injection for a patient. When he found the drug to be ineffective, he complained it to the FDCA.
The patient’s relative had purchased three boxes of Actemra 250 mg, manufactured by Genic Pharma, for Rs 1.35 lakh from one Ashish Shah of Messers Maa Pharmacy at Sabarmati. The drug was purchased without bill.
https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/07/18/fake-injections-racket-busted-in-gujarat.html
Lear MoreSix held for smuggling in 14 kilos of gold, valued at ₹7 crore, from Myanmar.
With the arrest of six men — from Delhi, Bihar and West Bengal — the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) on Friday claimed to have busted a gold smuggling racket and recovered 14 kilos of gold worth ₹7 crore from the arrested persons. Senior officers said the gold was smuggled in from Myanmar and was being transported to Delhi via road from Assam, in the absence of international flights.
According to the DRI officials, the operation was executed on Tuesday and arrests were made simultaneously in Delhi, Mujaffarpur and Siliguri in west Bengal.
Deputy director Nilesh Rai said based on intelligence inputs, the Delhi unit of DRI acted and intercepted two men at Jewar toll plaza when they were headed to Delhi in a roadways bus from Guwahati via Siliguri. “Gold bars weighing 4.98kg were recovered from them,” Rai said.
“Simultaneously, on further information, our teams in Siliguri intercepted two passengers at a bus station when they were about to board a bus to Patna, Bihar. Their luggage was checked and 30 gold bars weighing 4.98kg were recovered,” Rai said.
Lear MoreU.S. customs in Mobile seize $120,000 worth of illegal disinfectant wipes.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in the Port of Mobile have intercepted $120,000 of illegal disinfectant wipes, continuing the federal agency’s purge of mislabeled and unregistered personal protection equipment and cleaning supplies.
“The dedicated workforce of CBP remains vigilant and committed to identifying and seizing counterfeit, unapproved or otherwise substandard COVID-19 products that can potentially threaten the health and safety of American consumers,” said Anthony Acrey, Mobile Port Director. “Establishing and maintaining partnerships with other government agencies is vital to ensure success.”
Since the pandemic began until the end of June, CBP has seized more than 120,000 FDA-prohibited COVID-19 test kits. The items were either prohibited for not meeting regulatory or legal requirements, or they were potentially unlicensed, said CBP. In addition, 10 million counterfeit face masks, 3,000 EPA-prohibited anti-virus lanyards, 20,000 FDA-prohibited chloroquine tablets in 140 incidents, and 4,000 antibiotics tablets, such as azithromycin, have been seized over the last four months.
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Two arrested after fake goods worth more than $72,000 seized.
SINGAPORE – Two women have been arrested after fake goods worth more than $72,000 were seized, said the police on Thursday (July 16).
The women, aged 33 and 38, were arrested for their suspected involvement in selling counterfeit goods on a social media platform, said the police.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department conducted a raid in Ang Mo Kio Street 64 on Wednesday.
During the operation, more than 3,000 pieces of fake goods, comprising handbags, apparel, watches and accessories were seized.
Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the women had procured these counterfeit goods from overseas and offered them for sale on a social media platform. Further investigations are being conducted, said the police.
Those found guilty of selling or distributing goods with falsely applied trademarks face a fine of up to $100,000, jail of up to five years, or both.
Smuggling of gold, cigarettes, liquor surges amid COVID.
New Delhi: Gold, cigarettes and liquor were among high tax items which topped the list of smuggled goods across India amid the current coronavirus crisis that has led to economic distress.
Smuggling of these goods not only registered a sharp spike amid the pandemic but also smugglers, interestingly, used innovative measures like ferrying illegal cigarettes in COVID-19 special trains.
Revealing the fact based on a study of seizure of such smuggled items, FICCI’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE) said Customs officials had two significant seizures of smuggled cigarettes at the New Delhi railway station where the smugglers were using COVID-19 special trains for ferrying these products in less than a week.
These seizures come on the back of two other significant busts of foreign cigarette smuggling rackets, the first in Mumbai and the second one in Hyderabad, said the study, adding the combined value of the seizures is over Rs 15 crore.
https://www.siasat.com/smuggling-of-gold-cigarettes-liquor-surges-amid-covid-1923943/
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