Counterfeiting of products now big industry in India: Bengal minister
Counterfeiting of products have become a “big industry” in India that is impacting the consumers as well as the revenue earned by the governments, a senior West Bengal minister said here on Tuesday, urging the police and state agencies to be more vigilant to curb such practices.
“Counterfeiting has become a very big industry. Products like tea and cigarette of all the big brands are being counterfeited. I do not know whether the government of India is focussing on this matter because it is impacting the revenue, particularly in the segment of indirect taxes.
“Also the consumers are unknowingly using bad quality products while paying for big brands,” state Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pande said at a Conference on Combating Counterfeiting and Smuggling, organised by Ficci CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) here.
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NT$10 million in smuggled tobacco seized in Pingtung.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) busted a tobacco smuggling operation in Pingtung County late Monday night and seized NT$10 million (US$333,667) worth of smuggled cigarettes, the CGA said Tuesday.
In a statement, the CGA said officers from its southern office seized 160,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes with a market value of NT$10 million from a Donggang-registered fishing boat called the “Chang Sheng” and arrested five crew members, including the captain.
The CGA, which worked on the case with the Kaohsiung Harbor Police Department, said the busting of the smuggling operation came after a month of effort following up on tip-offs and collecting evidence on the fishing boat’s moves.
Just after the fishing boat arrived in Donggang at around 11 p.m. Monday, CGA officers boarded the vessel and conducted a search that found the 160,000 packs of cigarettes stuffed into 331 big boxes hidden in the lower deck of the boat, the CGA said.
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201805290013.aspx
Lear MoreR36.5-M smuggled goods confiscated
The Bureau of Customs (BoC) seized yesterday some R36.5-million smuggled goods such as agricultural products, ukay-ukay, and cigarettes.
The smuggled items were discovered inside seven container vans during spot inspection of alerted shipments at the Manila International Container Port, Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said in a press briefing.
The containers from China which arrived on separate dates at the Manila International Container Port were declared to contain non-woven interlining and women interlining, industrial fur, fresh apple, and household ware.
However, Lapeña confirmed that the actual contents found by the Customs authorities are very different from what was declared. A total of 947 cartons of More cigarettes and 53 cartons of Marvels cigarettes, 950 boxes of Mighty cigarettes, boxes of apples mixed with onion, apples mixed with boxes of fresh carrots, and bales of ukay-ukay mixed with food without Food and Drug Administration (DFA) permit were uncovered.
http://tempo.com.ph/2018/05/25/r36-5-m-smuggled-goods-confiscated/
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Customs Agents Seize $16 Million of Chinese Counterfeits in Texas.
U.S. customs agents recently seized more than $16 million worth of counterfeit goods in Laredo, Texas, a shipment that originated from China and was possibly smuggled through Mexico, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The fake goods, totaling almost 79,000, included designer clothing, electronic goods, and athletic shoes mimicking Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Adidas, Nike, Apple, and Sony, an ICE press release on May 21 stated.
Special ICE agents conducted the seizure on May 17 after surveilling a public storage facility in Laredo, where people were transferring boxes from a leased storage unit into pickup trucks and vans with Mexican license plates.
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P5.3 B worth of fake goods – mostly cigarettes – seized in Q1
Most fake or counterfeit goods confiscated by the government in the first quarter of the year worth at least P5.3 billion were cigarettes and cigarette production equipment, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said.
In a statement on Wednesday, IPOPHL said the value of the seized goods in the first three months of the year has already reached more than half of the total value of fake goods confiscated for the entire year in 2017, which reached P8.2 billion.
The spike this quarter – a triple-digit growth from the same period last year – was primarily attributed to the P5 billion worth of cigarettes and cigarette production paraphernalia seized by the government.
According to IPOPHL, these were mostly the products seized by the Philippine National Police from a factory in Bulacan in February.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/993578/p5-3-b-worth-of-fake-goods-mostly-cigarettes-seized-in-q1
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Revenue officials seize 45,000 cigarettes at Dublin Airport
Revenue officers have seized 45,000 cigarettes at Dublin Airport.
The seizure was made on Monday, when a passenger who had arrived from Nigeria via Frankfurt was stopped and searched at the airport.
The Benson & Hedges branded cigarettes had a retail value of €27,000, and would have represented a potential loss to the Exchequer of €21,375 if they had got through undetected. The passenger who smuggled the cigarettes, a 35-year-old Nigerian man, was subsequently arrested.
He appeared before Judge Bryan Smyth in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court earlier today, when he was remanded in custody to Cloverhill until May 28, when he will be brought before the Court again.
In a statement, the Revenue said that the majority of people pay the right amount of tax and duty on imports, and said this seizure was made as part of ongoing operations against illegal cigarette smuggling.
https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/revenue-officials-seize-45000-cigarettes-14692868
Lear MoreGold and cigarettes seized at airport.
KOCHI: The Intelligence Wing of the Customs Department at the Cochin International Airport seized 1,227 grams of gold, 13.77 kg of Indian tobacco and 20 cartons of cigarettes in the past one week.
Starting from May 9, Customs officers made three gold seizures and intercepted smuggling of Indian tobacco and cigarettes.
The intelligence officers of Customs seized 13.77 kg of tobacco valued at Rs 30,600 which was concealed in a checked-in baggage. The seizure was effected from a native of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh who was departing to Doha on May 5. Similarly, on May 12, 233 grams of circular gold rods valued at Rs 7.42 lakh was seized from a Malappuram native who arrived from Doha.
In another case, two gold chains weighing 151 grams valued at Rs 4.81 lakh were seized from a persons hailing from Malappuram who arrived from Dubai on May 13.On May 14, 20 cartons of cigarettes valued at Rs 30,00 was seized from a Kozhikode native who arrived from Dubai.
Lear MoreDRI, Assam Rifles seize 12 kg gold smuggled from Myanmar in Manipur
Department of Revenue Intelligence sleuths and Assam Rifles troopers, in a joint operation on Thursday, seized over 12 kg of gold valued at Rs 3.62 crore in Manipur, said a release.
The raid, conducted on the basis of specific intelligence developed by DRI, unearthed gold from the India-Myanmar border at Moreh.
The joint team stopped two vehicles at Khudengthabi travelling from Moreh towards Imphal for checking, and found gold biscuits hidden inside the front and rear tyre of both cars.
Two persons have been apprehended, the DRI release said. The gold has been seized under the Customs Act.
DRI is the lead agency to combat cross border crime involving smuggling of gold, consumer goods, drugs and narcotics, wild life articles, Fake Indian Currency Notes and counterfeit goods, import-export frauds and trade based money laundering.
Lear MoreDRI, Assam Rifles seize 12 kg gold smuggled from Myanmar in Manipur
Department of Revenue Intelligence sleuths and Assam Rifles troopers, in a joint operation on Thursday, seized over 12 kg of gold valued at Rs 3.62 crore in Manipur, said a release.
The raid, conducted on the basis of specific intelligence developed by DRI, unearthed gold from the India-Myanmar border at Moreh.
The joint team stopped two vehicles at Khudengthabi travelling from Moreh towards Imphal for checking, and found gold biscuits hidden inside the front and rear tyre of both cars.
Two persons have been apprehended, the DRI release said. The gold has been seized under the Customs Act.
DRI is the lead agency to combat cross border crime involving smuggling of gold, consumer goods, drugs and narcotics, wild life articles, Fake Indian Currency Notes and counterfeit goods, import-export frauds and trade based money laundering.
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Two Chinese men accused of smuggling 40 kg gold detained
CHENNAI: Customs officials on Tuesday said they detained for questioning two Chinese nationals after an unclaimed bag containing 40kg of goldbars worth 12.6 crore, apparently left by the duo, was found in a toilet at Chennai international airport.
The two middle-aged men, who had arrived in the morning by Cathay Pacific Airlines flight CX 631 from Hong Kong, were not carrying any checked-in baggage and may have panicked on seeing the tight vigilance protocol at the airport and after hanging around the airport for a while would have left for the city hotel where they were found later in the evening, said an official release.
Earlier, after a blue stroller bag was found, during a check, in a toilet, customs officials opened the bag with Chinese markings and found the gold, in 1kg bars, concealed in two plastic boxes. After carefully examining CCTV camera footage a special team fanned out across the city, focusing on the major hotels, before zeroing in on the duo, customs officials said.
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