Shanghai police seize $242 million in fake products, vowing to protect IP rights.
Shanghai police have reportedly seized copycat products worth more than 1.7 billion yuan ($242 million) this year, destroying some 240 dens that produce, store or sell counterfeit items.
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 on Tuesday.
One of the latest cases involved counterfeit bags of famous brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Chanel worth more than 50 million yuan. Shanghai police have arrested and charged nine suspects, responsible for making the bags and selling them through online stores, said CCTV.
The case caught the attention of Chinese netizens on Tuesday, with many Weibo users applauding the effort of Chinese authorities in cracking down on counterfeit products and protecting IP rights.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1194561.shtml
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33-kg-gold smuggling case: Hari Sharan Khadka, alleged supplier arrested from airport.
Hari Sharan Khadka, 42, one of the fugitives of the 33.5 kg gold scam, was arrested on Saturday after Tribhuvan International Airport immigration staff found Khadka’s criminal record in their database while he was trying to exit after landing in Kathmandu.
Khadka, who hails from Kavrepalanchok district, was identified as one of the owners of a huge cache of gold that was seized by the Central Investigation Bureau.
According to a CIB report, submitted to the District Attorney Office in March 2017, Khadka and Guptalal Bhusal aka Roshan were the suppliers of the 33 kg gold illegally brought from Dubai as they were running a gold smuggling racket from the United Arab Emirates.
According to Ramesh Kumar KC, director-general of the Department of Immigration, Khadka was arrested after the immigration department found the record of his involvement in criminal activities during a regular inspection.
“We have the software linked with Interpol data, which has records on fugitives and wanted criminals,” said KC. During the check, when Khadka’s passport details matched the records of wanted criminals, police were informed.
More Than $3.1 Million Of Counterfeit Watches Seized At O’Hare.
United States Customs and Border Protection officers seized 193 counterfeit watches worth more than $3.1 million at the International Mail Facility at Chicago O’Hare between June 21 and July 6, CBP officials confirm.
CBP officers seized 175 parcels, most of which were inspected because they were mis-manifested and had x-ray anomalies.
Most of the watches were Rolex. The watches were inspected and appraised by an import specialist, and most were deemed counterfeit due to poor package, low value and poor quality. If the watches were real, the value would have been $3,172,438.
“This is a significant seizure for CBP, but unfortunately, CBP officers see counterfeit shipments like this every day,” said Shane Campbell, Area Port Director, Chicago. “Counterfeit goods like this, come in by the truck-load on a nightly basis all across the nation threatening businesses and conning the consumer.”
According to CBP, on a typical day in 2019, officers seized $4.3 million worth of products with intellectual property rights violations.
107 kg gold sneaked in via Kochi airport this year in diplomatic bags.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As much as 107 kg of gold is estimated to have been sneaked in inside diplomatic baggage through Kochi airport this year, with its end destination remaining unclear. This has prompted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the case, highly placed sources told TNIE.
Intelligence sources said the gold arrived in various consignments and it need to be ascertained whether the booty had ended up with extremist groups or those who are engaged in floating a parallel economy.
“The central agencies felt the case needs in-depth probe. It’s not just about 30kg of gold. There are a lot of other questions that need to be answered. Where did this much gold go? Who are the end users? Did it go to a single place or multiple destinations? The probe is expected to unravel all these mysteries,” said an intelligence source.
The sources added that the seized 30kg was the largest consignment sent via the diplomatic channel and the other consignments were of lesser quantities. The agencies have found out that since January, Swapna Suresh had travelled abroad up to five times and, on two occasions, she was accompanied by a senior bureaucrat.
Fake currency with face value of Rs 55 crore seized in Pune.
Fake currency with a face value of more than Rs 55 crore has been seized from a bungalow in Pune, and senior police officials believe the figure could rise as the counterfeit notes were still being counted on Thursday.
Six men arrested in connection with the seizure, including army personnel, are being interrogated and will be produced in court by Thursday afternoon.
The money was found in a bungalow at Sanjay Park in Viman Nagar during a joint operation by Pune Police and Military Intelligence.
The arrested men were identified as Lance Naik Shaikh Alim Gulab Khan, a member of the Indian Army bank at Bombay Sappers, Sunil Badrinarayan Sarda, from Kondhwa area of Pune, Ritesh Ratnakar from Kamothe in Navi Mumbai, and Tufail Ahmed Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Abdul Gani Rehmtullah Khan and his son Abdul Rehman Abdul Gani Khan of Meera Road in Mumbai.
“The lance naik rented the bunglow for Rs23,000 eight months ago. He was the one who was involved in procuring the money. Prima facie, the owner of the place has no involvement in this,” said additional commissioner of police (crime) Ashok Morale.
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Noida: 3 Conmen Held With Fake Notes Of Face Value Rs 13.20 Lakh
The police also said they recovered 14 wad of notes from the trio in which only 10 notes were in real Rs 500 currency and remaining 2,641 were fake. Three men have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida for allegedly duping people by promising to double their money, and fake currency notes with face value of Rs 13,20,500 seized from them, police said on Tuesday.
The police also said they recovered 14 wad of notes from the trio in which only 10 notes were in real Rs 500 currency and remaining 2,641 were fake.
“Altogether Rs 5,000 in 10 real notes and 2,641 counterfeit notes of Rs 500 denomination, totalling Rs 13,20,500 in face value were seized from them,” a police spokesperson said.
“During probe, they told police they would lure gullible people by promising to double their money. They would ask them for some Rs 500 currency notes in order to double it. They would later return them double the number of notes with mostly fake notes except for the one on the top of the wad,” the spokesperson said.
The accused were held in Jewar area and have been identified as Krishna Sharma, Rajesh Kumar and Ravi Sharma, all three natives of Aligarh district, the police said, adding their car was also impounded.
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Huge cache of premium liquor seized in village near Ranchi.
Ranchi police on Thursday seized a huge cache of India made foreign liquor (IMFL), which peddlers were planning to smuggle to neighbouring Bihar, a state where manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor is prohibited.
A team from Pithoria police station seized the consignment from an abandoned building in Oena village, around 30 km from here, in the wee hours of Thursday and nabbed four peddlers, who confessed to smuggling liquor to Bihar, police said.
“We are still calculating the quantity of liquor. It comprised bottles of premium and expensive brands, which would have been smuggled to Bihar for sale in the black market,” said Ranchi SSP S.K. Jha.
Tests were on to determine whether the liquor in the bottles was genuine, mixed with local brands or illicit.
But Jha said the catch was crucial as it would lead police to people who were involved in bottling liquor in Ranchi and other parts of Jharkhand. “We have to understand the gravity of the matter. Illicit liquor poses major health risks to consumers,” he said.
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$1.6 million in illegal cigarettes seized.
Over $1.6 million of illegal tobacco has been seized and taken off the streets by local police.
On July 5, members of the Dryden OPP were conducting traffic enforcement duties on Highway 17 east of Dryden, when they stopped and investigated two vehicles.
Between the two vehicles, police found and seized 386 cases of illegal cigarettes with an estimated value of $1.6 million.
Contraband tobacco seizures in the Dryden area on April 30, May 10, May 16, May 26 and June 3 seized over $1.3 million worth of illegal cigarettes heading to Manitoba and other western provinces, says the OPP.
The Government of Ontario’s Ernst and Yount Report commissioned in the fall of 2018 found that the government is losing over $750 million in province excise tax to the illicit trade, combined with the federal excise tax losses, the total is over $1 billion.
https://www.drydennow.com/local/1-6-million-in-illegal-cigarettes-seized
Lear MoreUttarakhand: Three held with counterfeit notes
PITHORAGARH: Champawat police arrested three persons with counterfeit currency and printing equipment on Wednesday. Fake currency with the face value of Rs 4 lakh was seized from their possession. These persons circulated the money in rural pockets.
Superintendent of police (SP) Lokeshwar Singh said, “Police, on a tipoff, checked a bike at Manihargod locality of Tanakpur police station on Wednesday evening and intercepted two persons.
On searching, they recovered counterfeit currency with face value of Rs 4 lakh.” “The accused were identified as Vrij Kishor, resident of Amaria village and Riyaz, resident of Balia village, of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh,” the SP said.
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Smuggled foreign cigarettes seized in Hyderabad, five held.
Smuggled foreign cigarettes valued at ₹ 1.03 crore were seized by Hyderabad city police on Friday. The contraband was concealed in 503 cartons.
Acting on a tip-off, sleuths of the Commissioner’s Task Force (North Zone) intercepted a goods vehicle near Rishab Agency in Siddiamber Bazar and found huge quantities of foreign cigarettes, which were smuggled into the city.
The team led by inspector K Nageswar Rao apprehended five persons — Vipul Ranka, Jagadish Kumar, Doongarchand Shrishrimal, Pavan Kumar Perthani and M.A Haneef —, who were illegally importing the cigarettes from Delhi via Sarna Transport without valid invoice, delivery challan or even GST invoice. They were selling the contraband to pan shops, kirana shops and petty vendors in around Hyderabad.
Police said Vipul Ranka, hailing from Rajasthan, had migrated to Hyderabad a few years ago. He ran tailoring and Agarbatti material business at Begum Bazaar and was illegally procuring and selling foreign cigarettes.
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