Authorities Seize Thousands of Counterfeit HP Products in Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria
The battle against counterfeit products distribution continues as IT company, HP, together with local authorities have been able to seize about 200,000 counterfeit products in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania.
As reported, the products included HP-branded printer cartridges and modules that were meant to be used to assemble further counterfeits. In Kenya alone, the authorities successfully confiscated 5,400 counterfeit toner cartridges from 12 retail outlets in February 2020.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, saw a series of police raids between October 2019 and March 2020, resulting in the requisition of about 185,000 illegal items. According to HP, one of the raids was thanks to a consumer report to Customer Delivery Inspection (CDI), a unique, free protection service available to HP’s large and medium customers.
Meanwhile, Nigerian authorities worked with the company to impound 7,100 illicit items in a series of outlet shop raids.
This initiative by HP is just a small part of the greater war against the trade of counterfeit products in the continent as pledged by various electronics companies including HP and LG.
https://gadgets-africa.com/2020/06/08/counterfeit-hp-products-seized-kenya-tz-nigeria/
Lear MoreCBP Has Seized Nearly 900,000 Counterfeit and Unsafe COVID-19 Supplies
Customs officers have picked up hundreds of thousands of unapproved test kits, unproven medicines and substandard protective equipment.
As the pandemic crisis wears on, Customs and Border Protection says it has amassed a sizable collection of “counterfeit, unapproved or otherwise substandard COVID-19 products that threaten the health and safety of American consumers.”
Criminals and scammers never let a crisis go to waste, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Since the outbreak, criminals have updated classic scams, including impersonating health officials to steal personal information, price gouging and fake treatments, and newer schemes like embedding malware in tracing apps.
Fraudsters are also exploiting the shortage of resources needed to combat the virus by bringing counterfeit goods across borders.
“Among other products, these criminals are smuggling and selling counterfeit safety equipment, unapproved COVID-19 test kits, unproven medicines and substandard hygiene products through the online marketplace,” according to a CBP release.
Lear MoreBusinessman jailed for his part in NZ’s largest cigarette smuggling case
A businessman has been jailed for his role in the country’s largest cigarette smuggling case.
The man and his company have interim name suppression and appeared at the Auckland District Court on Thursday after earlier admitting charges of defrauding customs, making erroneous entries in customs documents and selling goods without paying duties.
The operation involved the smuggling of over 19 million cigarettes into Auckland, hidden inside office cabinets imported from China. The smuggling avoided excise customs duties of over $18 million.
Judge Tony Fitzgerald sentenced the man to five years and three months in prison and his company to fines.
He described the offending as being on a “massive scale” that was complicated, went on for nearly three and-a-half years and was motivated by greed.
Contraband cigarette arrest points to smuggling in the military – Marais
The soldier caught with a haul of apparently illegal cigarettes has again, according to a Democratic Alliance (DA) MP, raised questions about contraband and specifically smuggling of tobacco products by uniformed personnel.
Kobus Marais, who holds the defence and military veterans portfolio in his party’s shadow cabinet, told defenceWeb exclusively he had information about cigarette smuggling in the ranks of soldiers – particularly those deployed on the border protection tasking Operation Corona.
“The Seshego arrest at the weekend is, to me, further confirmation of smuggling activities in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF),” he said, calling the non-commissioned officer’s arrest “an embarrassing act of defiance by soldiers supposed to protect South Africans, the national economy and the integrity of the country”.
Soldiers doing border protection are most likely to have opportunities for smuggling. As part of normal patrol work they encounter smugglers as well as undocumented people. While contraband is supposed to be handed to police and SA Revenue Service (SARS) personnel, Marais maintains this is not always done. Moving illicitly acquired illegal cigarettes can happen by using official vehicles.
Lear More
P17-M shipment of fake cigarettes from China seized anew at Port of Manila
A container filled with counterfeit cigarettes from China was uncovered at the Port of Manila Wednesday, the Bureau of Customs said.
Several boxes containing fake Mighty and Marvels cigarettes worth P17.38 million were found in a shipment when Customs agents opened a container consigned to Mvetisery Industrial Supply.
According to the bureau, the shipment, which arrived from China on May 22 at the Port of Manila, was placed on hold and was issued with a Pre-Lodgement Control Order last May 27 after a derogatory information was received by the port from the Customs’ Enforcement Group.
Upon 100-percent physical examination on Wednesday, June 3, the assigned Customs examiner assessed total duties and taxes amounting to P9.96 million.
Warrants of Seizure and Detention against the entire shipment has been ordered by District Collector Arsenia Ilagan for violation of Section 1401 “Unlawful Importation or Exportation” in relation to Section 1113 “Property Subject Seizure and Forfeiture” of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Lear More
Customs conducts inventory of seized machine, counterfeit cigarettes
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) in this city conducted Monday, June 1. an inventory of all seized cigarettes, equipment and materials that the bureau had confiscated recently inside a warehouse in Pagadian City.
Zamboanga City Bureau of Customs District Collector Segundo Barte said the inventory showed the cigarette-making machine alone had an estimated market value of P100 million, while the seized cigarettes tobacco and materials were estimated at P20 million.
“Our estimate of the seized machine and tobacco products to reached P120 million, and this was one of our major accomplishments during the first few months of the year,” Barte said.
He noted: “Our raid to the bodega in Pagadian City strongly send a signal to manufacturer of fake cigarettes to stop their nefarious activities or be jailed for violation of government rules and regulations in the manufacturing of tobacco leaf products.”
Lear MoreMillions of sub-standard face masks seized at Heathrow since pandemic began
Millions of sub-standard face masks and thousands of fake hand sanitisers have been seized at Heathrow since the coronavirus pandemic started.
London Trading Standards said the majority of masks seized had been labelled with false claims or fake safety certificates and around 4.25 million had to undergo label amendments before they were released.
A total of 2.25 million masks were found not to comply with legal safety standards. Trading standards teams examined a further 1.5 million face masks and no issues were found.
Many of the consignments were referred to trading standards by Border Force teams at the airport. The teams also seized 8,000 fake hand sanitisers, branded Andrex and Comfort, at the airport.
Suspicions were raised as they had identical packaging and labelling, except for the brand name, and the same batch code on the entire consignment. Identical fake sanitiser products have been found on sale in Bexley by trading standards officers, officials said.
Lear More
Malta seizes over US$1 billion in ‘counterfeit’ Libyan money, says US
Moscow on Saturday (May 30) denied US reports that US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion) in Libyan money printed in Russia and seized by Maltese authorities was counterfeit.
The US State Department hailed Malta’s announcement about the seizure, saying it was “ordered by an illegitimate parallel entity”.
Russia’s foreign ministry insisted that the notes printed by Joint Stock Company Goznak – a Russian state-owned company – were legal tender.
Friday’s statement from the US State Department, said: “The Central Bank of Libya headquartered in Tripoli is Libya’s only legitimate central bank.
“The influx of counterfeit, Russian-printed Libyan currency in recent years has exacerbated Libya’s economic challenges.”
There was no official statement on Saturday from Valletta, although Malta Today newspaper had published a report about US$1.1 billion in counterfeit money seized in Malta on its Facebook site that was no longer available.
But the statement on Saturday from Russia’s foreign ministry said: “We would like to note that under the conditions of de facto double power in Libya, there are currently two central banks.”
Lear More
Fake cigarettes manufactured locally seized in Pagadian City
Counterfeit cigarettes and materials used in manufacturing fake cigarettes were uncovered in a warehouse in Pagadian City during a raid by Customs agents, the Bureau of Customs said Friday, May 29.
Several boxes of cigarettes bearing the brands of Two Moon, Mighty, Union, and Farstar among others were confiscated in a warehouse allegedly used to manufacture fake cigarettes for distribution in Zamboanga Peninsula last May 20.
In a belated report from the Customs bureau, had the boxes of cigarettes went to the market, the locally-made counterfeit cigars would generate around P14 million.
Some materials used in producing the fake products including machines worth P100 million were also found in the warehouse, Port of Zamboanga Acting District Collector Sigmundfreud Barte, Jr. said.
According to Barte, the operation was conducted by the Zamboanga Peninsula inter-agency team composed of the regional offices of Bureau of Customs, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philippine Coast Guard, and local police.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/29/fake-cigarettes-manufactured-locally-seized-in-pagadian-city/
Lear More
Customs foils distribution of P10.1-M smuggled cigarettes in ZamBaSulta area
Hundreds of cases of smuggled cigarettes intended for distribution in the Zamboanga, Basilan, and Sultan Kudarat (Zambasulta) area in Mindanao were intercepted Tuesday when authorities staked out to respond to an intelligence report.
Assorted cigarettes bearing the brands Gundang Baru, Cannon White, Famous, Canyon, Berlin and Fort worth P10,125,000 were seized by a joint team from the Port of Zamboanga, local police, and Joint Task Force Zamboanga in Istanbak, Barangay Lower Calarian, Zamboanga City.
According to the bureau, the seized cigarettes “most likely came from Malaysia or Indonesia” and are intended for distribution in areas in the Zambasulta area.
Following an information that that certain individuals are engaged in cigarette smuggling in Lower Calarian, the joint team trooped to the area to intercept the operation, the Customs bureau furthered.
The seized cigarettes were later turned over to Port of Zamboanga for issuance of Warrant of Seizure and Detention for violation of Executive Order No. 245 titled Amended Rules and Regulations Governing the Exportation and Importation of Leaf Tobacco and Tobacco Products and Section 117 of RA 10863 otherwise known as Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Lear More