UP: Fake products worth over Rs 50 lakh seized
AGRA: A police raid at a small house at Jagdispura in UP‘s Agra on Friday yielded counterfeit “branded products” – including cosmetics such as facewash, skin foundation, hair oil, lip balm – worth over Rs 50 lakh.
The raid reflects a worrisome situation of the retail market – in Agra and the neighbouring districts in UP- which is flooded with fake products.
The raid was conducted in association with Kolkata-based Anusandhan Investigation and Security Private Limited (AISPL)- the brand product investigation agency which was said to be hired by Hindustan Unilever, Dabur India, Bajaj, Tata Group, Himalaya Drug Company and others.
Speaking to TOI, investigating officer of private agency Dilip Kumar Singh said, “For the last many months our high-end brand clients were complaining about counterfeit products hampering their business in UP. During our extensive investigation, we found that a network of scores of men spread across Agra, Mathura, Meerut, Varanasi, Jaunpur and other disricts was manufacturing counterfeit low-grade quality of products and selling them into market with eminent brand names after repackaging it.”
“In Agra we zeroed in on two men – Kili Rajvee Sama originally hails from Keshavpura New Mumtaz Nagar, Meerut, but was living at rented accommodations in Kishorepura Ki Pulia area of Jagdispura police jurisdiction in Agra as well as in Mathura district.
Banned foreign cigarettes worth 2L seized in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad: The Commissioner’s Task Force (central) team on Sunday raided a shop in Begum Bazaar and seized banned foreign cigarettes worth Rs 2 lakh. Acting on a tip off, the police raided Priya Novelties located at Aziz Plaza in Begum Bazaar and run by Mangilal Jain. The police seized various foreign brands of cigarettes including Paris, Win, Mond and others imported illegally into the country.
“Mangilal Jain was receiving the cigarettes from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata via rail. He was supplying the contraband to the local traders and earning huge profits,” said DCP (Task Force), P Radha Kishan Rao.
Jain procured the cigarette for Rs 6 each and sold it for Rs 20 to Rs 25 to retailers who in turn sold it for a price between Rs 30 and Rs 40 each.
The cigarettes were smuggled into the country via air and sea routes. They reach Gujarat and AP through the sea route and by air, they are brought to Hyderabad via Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
https://telanganatoday.com/banned-foreign-cigarettes-worth-2l-seized-hyderabad
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Customs spots June surge in smuggled goods.
The trade value of brand-name products smuggled into Thailand surged in June, partly motivated by bigger profits from the firmer baht, says a Customs Department official.
The department last month saw 45 cases of smuggled brand-name goods worth 42.9 million baht in total, more than doubling the average monthly haul of 20 million baht in the past year, said Tada Choomchaiyo, director of the enforcement division.
The stronger baht resulted in a higher profit from importing goods such as luxury watches and bags for domestic sale, Mr Tada said.
Take Patek Philippe watches as an example. A watch imported into Thailand is subject to a 5% duty plus a 7% value-added tax (VAT), constituting a tax amount of almost 100,000 baht, based on a list price of 800,000 baht. A luxury bag is subject to 20% import duty plus the 7% VAT, Mr Tada said.
Unlike in the past, brand-name products are being smuggled by gangs. The Customs Department has a watch list of 100 suspected smugglers.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1710283/customs-spots-june-surge-in-smuggled-goods
Lear MoreBengaluru: 10L smuggled foreign cigarettes worth Rs 2cr seized
BENGALURU: Customs officials have seized over 10 lakh cigarettes worth Rs 2 crore that was smuggled from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Bengaluru. The cigarettes were stored in three godowns in the city market. A Bengaluru resident has been taken into custody.
M Ramana Reddy, additional commissioner, city customs commissionerate, said a man who was trading foreign cigarettes was detained on June 8 and three godowns in the city market area were raided on June 28. More than 16 brands of international cigarettes worth Rs 2 crore were found there. These cigarettes were illegally sold in pubs, bars and other high-end outlets.
“There was intelligence input about cigarettes being smuggled from Bangladesh to Bengaluru via Kolkata by train. Officials intercepted the goods train in Yeshwanthpur and the City railway station and seized a portion of the consignment. While the transporters escaped, the officials got whereabouts of the recipient of the consignment and picked him up for questioning. He took the officials to the location where he transported the goods,” an official said.
Officials said as there’s a huge demand for imported cigarettes in Bengaluru, two consignments used to arrive by train every week. This was helping traders evade taxes. The cigarette packets do not carry pictorial health warnings as required under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules-2017.
Lear MoreCustoms seizes 19 kg of gold bars hidden in packets of dates.
Customs Department at Uran has seized a consignment in which gold bars concealed in packets of dates were being smuggled into the city from Iraq. The gold bars weighing 19 kg are valued at Rs 4.50 crore.
According to the sources in the Customs department, the case of smuggling first came to the notice of Container Scanning Division (CSD), which scans the containers and interprets the images inside the containers as ‘clean’ or ‘suspicious’.
The containers, which are thought to be suspicious, are marked for ‘100 per cent examination’ by the dog staff.
CSD, which is based at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House at Uran, had recently taken up a container of Iraqi dates, coming from a port in that country, for scanning.
“On analysing the image, it was found that some metal of high density was concealed inside the container. The container was then marked to the dog staff for examination. Once the dog staff too marked the image as suspicious, the said consignment was opened for examination.
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Fake goods worth millions confiscated in two EC busts.
The authorities have seized millions of rands worth of goods in two separate incidents at the Port of Ngqura and on the N2 to Cape Town.
In the first incident, the drama started when police received information about a shipping container destined for East London which was due to arrive at Ngqura.
SAPS spokesperson Colonel Sibongile Soci said on Friday that members of the Border Police supported by members of the South African Revenue Services and accompanied by a shipping agent inspected the container on June 28.
“The container was full of different types of counterfeit goods worth a total of R45,553,400.”
The goods comprised 7,200 pairs of branded sunglasses valued at R10,800,000, 960 Tommy Hillfiger belts valued at R960,000, 52,000 Smooth Pens valued at R104,000, 360 Swiss Gear backpacks valued at R360,000, 400 Gucci sling bags valued at R360,0000, and 1,413 branded watches valued at R29,729,400.
https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2019-07-05-fake-goods-worth-millions-confiscated-in-two-ec-busts/
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NIA arrests man from Bengal in fake currency seizure case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested an absconding accused in the Bhiwandi Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) seizure case from Malda district in West Bengal, an official said.
Sabir Jullur Rehman Ali was arrested from his hometown Safdarpur in Malda district, he said.
He was actively involved in procurement, trafficking and supply of counterfeit currency notes, he said.
Sabir Ali’s name had cropped during interrogation of other accused who were apprehended in 2018 from Bhiwandi in neighboring Thane district, the NIA official said.
Earlier, six people were arrested in connection with the seizure of 239 fake currency notes, all in denomination of Rs 2,000 and having a face value of Rs 4.78 lakh, in Bhiwandi, he said.
The accused were identified as Rehan Shaikh, Shafahad Ansari, Anees Shaikh, Kishor Fular and Rohit Singh (all held from Bhiwandi) and Samir Kalicharan Mandal (arrested from West Bengal), he said.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/nia-arrest-bengal-fake-currency-1562383-2019-07-05
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Over 6 Kg Smuggled Gold Worth 2.17 Crore Rupees Seized in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad: Gold weighing over 6 kg and valued at Rs 2.17 crore was seized from 14 passengers who arrived here from a gulf nation after performing Umrah, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said on Wednesday.
According to a DRI release, the gold was smuggled into the country on Tuesday by concealing “on person” and the accused did not have any documents to prove the legal import of the yellow metal.
The total weight of the foreign gold recovered and seized under Customs Act, 1962, is 6.46 kg worth around 2.17 crore, it said.
Explaining the modus operandi, the sleuths said the economically disadvantaged people who wanted to perform Umrah (pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia were lured by agents, who sponsored their trip.
During the return journey, the passengers were asked to carry gold, which would be collected by someone on the instructions of the agents.
Gullible pilgrims were blackmailed by agents in Saudi Arabia with consequences of penalty or recovery of full charge of Umrah should they not act as per instructions.
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More than 40,000 illicit cigarettes seized from high street store.
More than 40,000 illicit cigarettes and nearly 5kg of rolling tobacco have been seized in a sting operation by Waltham Forest Council and HMRC. On first inspection of the 98p Plus Extra shop in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, officers confiscated more than 11,000 cigarettes and 1.68kg of rolling tobacco which violated UK legal requirements for labelling and packaging tobacco products. During a later inspection, Waltham Forest Trading Standards discovered another 30,020 illicit cigarettes and 3.65kg of foreign rolling tobacco that violated tobacco products regulations. On June 13, Mr Salim Ahmed, director of Bismillah London Ltd, the company owning the shop, pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates court to ten charges brought by Waltham Forest Trading Standards for the sale of illicit tobacco products. Mr Ahmed previously stated he received the tobacco from an unknown eastern European man who persuaded him to sell it to boost his profit margins and he said he had not inspected the cigarettes purchased.
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Customs officials seize US$61,450 worth of counterfeit goods on truck entering Hong Kong from mainland China.
Hong Kong’s customs officers have seized about 2,000 suspected counterfeit items, ranging from shoes and watches to sunglasses, worth about HK$480,000 (US$61,450). The Customs and Excise Department said in a statement on Tuesday that its officers intercepted a truck coming into Hong Kong from the mainland at the Man Kam To Control Point last Thursday. The contraband was found in the truck’s cargo compartment. The driver, a 58-year-old man, was arrested. “The investigation is ongoing and the arrested man has been released on bail pending further inquiries,” the department said. In Hong Kong, importing or exporting counterfeit items is a violation of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance. The maximum penalty is a fine of HK$500,000 and five years in prison. Counterfeit items are a common sight in shops and street market stalls across the city, particularly in tourist hotspots such as Temple Street.
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