Latvia seizes 5 tons of counterfeit coffee destined for EU market
More than five tons of counterfeit coffee with fake Nestle and Nescafe labels destined for the EU market have been seized by Latvian authorities.
The Customs Police of the Latvian State Revenue Service said that it also found coffee processing and packaging equipment in an excise warehouse in Marupe, suburb of the Latvian capital Riga, and a plant in Riga.
The criminal gang had planned to sell the counterfeit coffee on the EU market.
The Customs Police found 21 palettes with coffee that had Nescafe Gold Blend labels on in the warehouse. There were also 1,260 Nescafe Gold Blend jars of 500 grams, and 6,048 jars of 750 grams. A coffee processing plant in Riga has been identified as the consigner, and a Lithuanian company as a consignee.
An investigation is underway. Samples of the confiscated goods have been sent to the authorized representative of Nestle and Nescafe brands, and it was determined that these were counterfeit goods and packaging.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-06/01/c_136332413.htm
Lear MoreSmuggler who stashed £12,000 in kitchen bin jailed after being caught with 40,000 illicit cigarettes
A serial smuggler who tried to stash £12,000 in a bin when tax inspectors came calling has been jailed, after being caught with over 40,000 illicit cigarettes.
Repeat offender Thomas Griffiths, 57, of Durham Street, Spennymoor, had already spent 22 months in prison for dealing in smuggled tobacco, and on Wednesday he was handed another 21 month sentence.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) caught Griffiths with 40,180 non-duty paid cigarettes in his car and 3,740 stashed in his home. The haul was worth an estimated £11,000 in unpaid duty. Officers also found £12,000 cash hidden in a kitchen bin.
The latest offence was uncovered in April 2014, just one month before he went on trial for another smuggling offence. He was convicted and jailed for 10 months in June 2014 after he was found with 176,000 non-duty paid cigarettes and 112kg of rolling tobacco in his car and two storage units.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/smuggler-who-stashed-12000-kitchen-13126440
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Treat illicit trade as national threat, Ficci urges government
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) on Thursday urged the government to tackle smuggling and counterfeiting of goods as national threat, as they result in India losing around Rs. 39,239 crore in taxes every year.
In a letter to various ministries concerned, including Finance Ministry, Ficci’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (Cascade) said the top five goods where seizures by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had been the highest in the past few years have been gold, cigarettes, machinery parts, fabric/silk yarn and electronic items.
The Ficci had earlier revealed facts about and impact of illicit trade in its report “Invisible Enemy – A Threat to Our National Interests”.
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Customs Arrests Wheelchair-Bound Senior Citizen For Gold Smuggling In Delhi
NEW DELHI: Two men, including a wheelchair-bound senior citizen have been arrested by the customs department at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in New Delhi for allegedly trying to smuggle gold worth about Rs. 93 lakh into the country.
One of the accused in the case, a 63-year-old man, used a wheelchair to escape the customs authority.
Acting on intelligence, the duo were intercepted after their arrival from Dubai on Saturday.
“Out of the two, the gold was recovered from one passenger who had concealed it in the specially designed pocket of his shorts worn under the trouser. He had crossed the green-channel on the wheelchair,” said Govind Garg, Deputy Commissioner of customs at the IGI airport. He added that the person did not require a wheelchair but used it to avoid any suspicion.
Jet staffer held with Rs 1.2 crore worth gold in Mumbai
MUMBAI: A senior employee of a private airline was arrested with four kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 1.2 crore at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Tuesday night.
Nadeem Ansari , 29, employed as a senior service supervisor with Jet Airways, was intercepted by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials while leaving the airport with five pouches containing 4.05 kg gold. Ansari was promised Rs 75,000 if he could manage to sneak out of the airport the gold that had been smuggled into the country by a carrier from Dubai that evening and left in an airline bus.
Jet Airways has suspended Ansari pending enquiry and will take further action based on the outcome of the probe. The identity of the passenger who smuggled the gold has been withheld. Interestingly, the passenger travelled business class as they enjoy the privilege of exiting the aircraft first. “Ansari was not on duty and should not have been there at the airport. Moreover, his job was to supervise operations at the passenger counters,” an official said.
4000 fake products seized in Abu Dhabi
About 4,000 fake and unlicensed products including herbal cans, children toys, lenses and other items have been seized in Abu Dhabi.
The Abu Dhabi City Municipality said on Wednesday that they have confiscated 1400 eye lenses, 2044 children gelatin cans, 21 unlicensed herbal packets and 35 adulterated crèmes falling short of the required specifications.
The items were identified during an inspection campaign targeting tents selling outlets in Baniyas area to verify their compliance with public health standards and respect of the civilised appearance of the city.
The campaigns also aimed at combating the selling of fake products falling short of the applicable health standards, ensure that the product tag is affixed in place, and showing the country of origin, date of manufacturing and contents written in Arabic or English.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/crime/4000-fake-products-seized-in-abu-dhabi
Lear MoreFuel smuggling: Ghana lost $150m in 2 months
Ghana lost over $150 million to fuel smuggling in September and November 2016, the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers has said.
Duncan Amoah believes the country will lose billions if the activities of black marketers are not halted. He was speaking to Joy News about the illegal activities of a fuel smuggling syndicate that appear to be rife in Ghana.
“We have insisted the government should go after these people, arrest and prosecute them and as much as possible, put in measures to curtail these illegal activities which are making the country lose so much,” he said.
Mr Amoah does not understand why in other countries those who evade taxes are dealt with ruthlessly, yet in Ghana, many people who have found disingenuous ways of making money are allowed to go scot-free.
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2017/may-26th/fuel-smuggling-ghana-lost-150m-in-2-months.php
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Koreans caught smuggling 2,348kg of gold in ‘private parts’
Dozens of Korean citizens were caught smuggling 2,348 kilograms of gold hidden in their “private parts,” the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said on Tuesday. It was the nation’s biggest smuggling bust.
Fifty-one people, including several housewives, were apprehended at Incheon International Airport early last month. The smuggling had been happening for about two years. Male smugglers were hiding five or six gold bars (3cm x 3cm), each weighting 200 grams, in their rectums while the women hid the gold in their rectums or vaginas.
The value of the gold was about 113.5 billion won ($100 million) â�� the highest value of gold confiscated in a single smuggling case. The smuggling happened from March 2015 and the gold came from Tokyo and China’s Yantai.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/05/251_229920.html
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Hope on GST to curb cigarette smuggling: Tobacco Institute of India
TII says India has become fastest growing and fourth largest illegal cigarette market in the world.
The coming national goods and services tax (GST) will, says the cigarette industry, help curb smuggling of items in the segment.
Cigarettes, both duty paid and tax paid, comprise 15 per cent of the entire tobacco market in India, which was estimated at Rs 144,000 crore in 2015.
The Tobacco Institute of India (TII), representing 98 per cent of duty-paying cigarette makers, says the country has become the fastest growing and fourth largest illegal cigarette market in the world, on account of excessive taxation.
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Over 6 million packs of smuggled cigarettes seized in 6 months
Taipei, May 29 (CNA) The government’s efforts to step up a clampdown on tobacco smuggling have borne fruit over the past six months, resulting in the seizure of over 6.22 million packs of smuggled cigarettes during the period, Minister of Finance Sheu Yu-jer said Monday.
The Ministry of Finance and relevant central and local government agencies have adopted tougher measures to combat cigarette and tobacco smuggling since Oct. 20 last year in anticipation that a law that could double the health surcharge on cigarettes from NT$10 (US$0.33) per pack to NT$20 from June 12 could spur smuggling, according to Sheu.
To date, more than 6.22 million packs of smuggled cigarettes have been confiscated during the six-month period. For the first half of this month, about 1 million packs have been seized, Sheu said.
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201705290007.aspx
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