60,000 cigarettes, 30 kilos of rolling tobacco seized after car stopped in Derry
A 48-year-old man has been arrested, and approximately 60,000 cigarettes and more than 30 kilograms of hand rolling tobacco (HRT), seized by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) today in Derry.
The man was interviewed by HMRC officers on Friday 16 February, after a car was stopped by the PSNI in the the city area and searched. A quantity of cigarettes and HRT were discovered inside the car. HMRC officers also carried out a follow up search at a domestic premises in Newry and seized more tobacco products. The suspected illicit tobacco products are worth an estimated £33,000 in lost duty and taxes. Steve Tracey, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:
“Tobacco fraudsters undercut legitimate retailers depriving the UK of money needed to fund our public services. “HMRC will continue to target the supply of illicit tobacco, which costs the UK around £2.5 billion a year.
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Eight million cigarettes seized by customs at Belfast port
A major cigarette smuggling operation has been disrupted by customs officers at Belfast port.
Eight million cigarettes destined for sale in the UK were discovered hidden on a ship from Singapore on Saturday, the Border Force said.
The load was listed as bed linen with a delivery address in Co Down, but during the search officers discovered 40 pallets with a total of 800 boxes containing the cigarettes.
This is the biggest single seizure of cigarettes at the port in six years.
Border Force said had the smuggling attempt not been stopped it could have cost the Treasury approximately £2.6 million in unpaid duty and VAT.
John Oldham, assistant director for Border Force Northern Ireland, said: “By stopping the shipment Border Force has starved those responsible of the proceeds of their criminality.
Lear MoreUS : 43-Year-Old Chinese National Guilty Of Selling Fake Apple Devices Worth $1.1mn
A Chinese citizen, living in the United States was convicted of participating in an operation of counterfeit products from China that involved the sale of fake iPhones and iPads to the customers.
43-year-old Chinese national, Jianhua ‘Jeff Li, was pronounced guilty before US Court Judge Kevin McNulty, for trafficking counterfeit goods and labels and, smuggling goods into the United States on Friday.
The case has been underway since 2015 when Li was indicted and taken into custody. After inspecting into his bank transactions, it was found that Li received over $ 1.1 million from fake product sales. The amount of money Li’s partners and associates in the US or China received is not clear.
As per reports, between July 2009 – February 2014, Jianhua ‘Jeff Li, through his company “Dream Digitals” with his accomplices Andreina Becerra, Roberto Volpe, Rosario LaMarca and others smuggled more than 40,000 electronic devices and accessories into the USA. The smuggled iPhone and iPads were transferred with labels and packaging with fake Apple trademarks. Li will be sentenced on May 30.
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Woman jailed for smuggling 3m illicit cigarettes into UK
A London woman who smuggled three million illicit cigarettes into the UK using false identities has been jailed after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Xiou Yu Lin, 50, set up mailbox accounts in false names to receive packages, mainly from the Far East.
The parcels – from China, Hong Kong, Japan, India and the US – were wrongly declared as containing items such as ‘kids toys’ and ‘machinery parts’ to get through Customs and evade £904,865.73 in duty.
Southwark Crown Court heard Lin was involved in the scam between July 2011 and November 2016, illegally importing 3.2m cigarettes and 662.7kg of tobacco.
HMRC investigators caught Lin in Camden Town in November 2016 after she had picked up 6,000 Marlboro Gold cigarettes.
Lin, who admitted smuggling cigarettes and tobacco and several counts of using false documents, was sentenced to three years and four months in jail.
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SIA air steward arrested at Delhi Airport for smuggling gold
24, January 2018 l Today Online
SINGAPORE – A Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew was arrested at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday (Jan 22) for allegedly smuggling gold.
The air steward, who was among the crew operating SIA flight SQ402 from Singapore to New Delhi, was detained by customs officials after they searched him and recovered about 1.05kg of gold worth 3.1 million rupees (S$64,000), said an Indian Express report on Wednesday.
According to a senior official, the crew member had worn the gold items, a chain and bangles, underneath his uniform.
Early investigations also revealed that the crew member had intended to hand the gold over to an agent at a prominent hotel in Delhi. In return, he would be paid S$500.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/sia-air-steward-arrested-delhi-airport-smuggling-gold
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Foreign currency worth Rs1.72 crore seized at Mumbai airport, three arrested
Jordan shoes shipped from China.
Customs officials said the 400 pairs of various styles of Air Jordans arrived Dec. 15 in seven parcels shipped from China and were seized when they arrived at a facility near Washington Dulles International Airport. The officials said the shoes, if authentic, would have a suggested retail prize totaling $54,715.
CBP said officers examining the shipment suspected the sneakers were counterfeit and the agency’s Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Centers for Excellence and Expertise verified with Nike that the shoes were not authentic. The shoes had been destined for an address in Alexandra, Va., investigators said.
“Customs and Border Protection will continue to work closely with our trade and consumer safety partners to seize counterfeit and inferior merchandise, especially those products that pose potential harm to American consumers, negatively impact legitimate business brand reputations, and potentially steal jobs from U.S. workers,” said Daniel Mattina, CBP acting port director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C.
https://www.upi.com/Customs-officers-seize-55000-worth-of-fake-Nike-Air-Jordans/8071515595327/
5. Foreign currency worth Rs1.72 crore seized at Mumbai airport, three arrested.
14, January 2018 l Hindustan Times
In a huge haul of foreign currency, three Mumbra residents were arrested on Saturday at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) with US dollars worth Rs1.72 crore.
The trio was held before they could board a flight to Dubai. “This is the highest seizure at a single time since the past one year,” said a senior Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officer of the Mumbai Customs. The accused have been identified as Moin Shaikh, Nizamuddin Shaikh and Anam Shaikh, all aged between 25 to 30. “The youngsters are carriers and were working for as less as Rs10,000 each for smuggling the currency,” the officer said.
Acting on a tip-off, the trio was intercepted after they checked-in at the airport. A search resulted in the recovery of US $ 2,75,000, equivalent to Rs1.72 crore. Out of the total currency recovered, Moin and Nizamuddin had kept $5,000 (Rs3.17 lakh) each in their pockets. The rest was kept in 10 tins of cosmetics and food products kept in their checked-in luggage. “The tins were resealed properly,” said the officer.
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Customs officers seize $55,000 worth of fake Nike Air Jordans
9, January 2018 l NewsX
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday arrested fake currency note handler, Mataur Rehman who happens to be a resident of Malda. He is being brought to Delhi for detailed interrogation. Earlier, an investigation had suggested that there was a massive supply of counterfeit Indian currency from Malda villages in West Bengal. The DRI had earlier arrested a resident of Patna called Ram Prasad in connection with the racket from Old Delhi Railway Station. Both the accused have been arrested with Rs 2,000 denomination notes worth Rs 4 lakh.
Earlier, DRI had informed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that two operators had been indulging in the selling of fake Indian counterfeit notes in and around Delhi. Since the demonetisation drive, during which new Rs 2000 notes were introduced, fake notes have been seized from many places across the country. Earlier, fake currency worth Rs 48,000 in the form of Rs 2000 notes were seized from Mathura. two people were also arrested in relation to the case. However, the supplier of fake notes had managed to flee from the spot before the raid by the police.
4. Customs officers seize $55,000 worth of fake Nike Air Jordans.
10, January 2018 l UPI
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers in Virginia seized nearly $55,000 worth of counterfeit Nike Air Jordan shoes shipped from China.
Customs officials said the 400 pairs of various styles of Air Jordans arrived Dec. 15 in seven parcels shipped from China and were seized when they arrived at a facility near Washington Dulles International Airport. The officials said the shoes, if authentic, would have a suggested retail prize totaling $54,715.
CBP said officers examining the shipment suspected the sneakers were counterfeit and the agency’s Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Centers for Excellence and Expertise verified with Nike that the shoes were not authentic. The shoes had been destined for an address in Alexandra, Va., investigators said.
“Customs and Border Protection will continue to work closely with our trade and consumer safety partners to seize counterfeit and inferior merchandise, especially those products that pose potential harm to American consumers, negatively impact legitimate business brand reputations, and potentially steal jobs from U.S. workers,” said Daniel Mattina, CBP acting port director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C.
https://www.upi.com/Customs-officers-seize-55000-worth-of-fake-Nike-Air-Jordans/8071515595327/
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DRI arrests fake currency handler; seizes Rs 2000 notes from his possession
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday arrested fake currency note handler, Mataur Rehman who happens to be a resident of Malda. He is being brought to Delhi for detailed interrogation. Earlier, an investigation had suggested that there was a massive supply of counterfeit Indian currency from Malda villages in West Bengal. The DRI had earlier arrested a resident of Patna called Ram Prasad in connection with the racket from Old Delhi Railway Station. Both the accused have been arrested with Rs 2,000 denomination notes worth Rs 4 lakh.
Earlier, DRI had informed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that two operators had been indulging in the selling of fake Indian counterfeit notes in and around Delhi. Since the demonetisation drive, during which new Rs 2000 notes were introduced, fake notes have been seized from many places across the country. Earlier, fake currency worth Rs 48,000 in the form of Rs 2000 notes were seized from Mathura. two people were also arrested in relation to the case. However, the supplier of fake notes had managed to flee from the spot before the raid by the police.
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Large Number of Fake Korean Cosmetics Seized at Hong Kong Customs
A large number of fake South Korean cosmetic products is circulating in Chinese-speaking countries.
According to news outlets in Hong Kong, including Wenweipo, on January 2, Hong Kong Customs officers found 5,200 South Korean, Japanese and European knock-off cosmetics worth HK$670,000 (US$85,742 or 91.19 million won) for two days from December 20.
The fakes were mostly South Korean make-up and skincare products such as Amorepacific’s Sulwhasoo, Innisfree and Laneige. France’s Chanel counterfeit perfumes and Bioderma bogus products were also found.
Hong Kong Customs cracked down on fake cosmetic products two times in 2017. They seized 755 knock-off cosmetics with an estimated market value of about HK$100,000 (US$12,794 or 13.65 million won at the end of September last year. After the first seizure, 120 investigators were called in to an extensive raid and found counterfeit cosmetics storage facilities last month.
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NT$60 million worth of smuggled cigarettes seized in Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung Customs has seized 1.35 million packs of cigarettes worth NT$60 million (US$2 million) on the market that were being smuggled into the country as textiles.
Customs officials zeroed in on three containers that arrived in Taiwan from Vietnam and were to be re-exported to the Philippines, Kaohsiung Customs Director Chen Shan-Ju said Tuesday.
After tracking down their location in the port, customs officials inspected the containers and found they contained 1.35 million packs of duty-free, smuggled cigarettes, Chen said.
The containers arrived in Taiwan with documents identifying their contents as textiles, but they in fact contained cigarettes worth NT$60 million. The cigarettes have been seized for violation of the Customs Anti-smuggling Act and the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act, and police authorities are investigating the individuals involved.
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201801020011.aspx
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