More than RM67M worth of smuggled goods seized in Malaysian waters
PUTRAJAYA (Bernama) – More than RM67 million worth of goods were seized by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in smuggling cases recorded since 2007 until February this year.
MMEA Director-General Maritime Rear Admiral Datuk Zulkifli Abu Bakar said the smuggled items included cigarette, liquor, diesel and petrol.
“Cigarette recorded the highest value with RM6.3 million last year,” he said when met by Bernama recently.
He said smuggling was a serious problem and efforts were continuously made by the agency to step up patrol and curb the activity. The focus is on drug smuggling and other contraband in the northern part of the country, he added.
http://borneobulletin.com.bn/rm67m-worth-smuggled-goods-seized-malaysian-waters/
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Hong Kong police seize furs, sandalwood and electronic goods worth HK$7m in anti-smuggling raid.
Almost HK$7 million worth of smuggled goods destined for the mainland were confiscated by Hong Kong police during an anti-smuggling operation in Sai Kung East Country Park on Monday night. But six smugglers managed to flee on a mainland Chinese speedboat with a coxswain on board.
At about 10.30pm on Monday, six men were found loading boxes from a car on to a speedboat berthed at Wong Shek pier on Pak Tam Road in Sai Kung East Country Park, according to police.
As officers moved in, the six men abandoned the car and boxes of goods and jumped on to the speedboat which sped towards the mainland.
Officers seized 300kg of fur, 48kg of suspected sandalwood, 45kg of bird’s nest, about 2,000 mobile phones and five boxes of electronic components.
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1.6kg gold smuggling bid: Tamil Nadu official held
TRICHY: An immigration official was caught red-handed by customs sleuths in Trichy on Thursday when he was trying to hand over gold biscuits to a passenger who had earlier arrived from Kuala Lumpur with the smuggled valuable.
According to sources, the sleuths of the air intelligence wing detained the official in the early hours of Thursday outside the airport when he was about to hand over the 1.6 kg of gold biscuits smuggled in by the passenger.
Balaji Baskar, a Bureau of Immigration sub inspector, who was on duty at the Trichy airport, secured 16 pieces of gold biscuits – each weighing 100 grams – from Sadique Ali, who arrived from Malaysia by an Air Asia flight, say sources.
Ali, a native of Lalgudi, handed over the bis cuits to Balaji Basker before undergoing the routine checking and frisking process at the immigration and customs area.
Five arrested in duty-evasion racket amounting to Rs26 crore in Mumbai
The Central Intelligence Unit at Air Cargo Complex (ACC) in Andheri on Monday arrested five people for allegedly evading customs duty payment of Rs26 crore. According to the police, they were looking to smuggle mobile phones and accessories into the country. The five accused include custom brokers and importers.
Custom brokers are agents for an importer or exporter who are paid brokerage for clearing goods through customs. “Gross mis-declaration has been resorted to evade payment of customs duty. The description of the declared goods was vague so as to undervalue the consignment. Most of the goods were branded products,” said Atul Saxena, additional commissioner, ACC. Certain entities registered in Hong Kong, China and Chinese Taipei are suppliers for most of the consignments of mobile accessories.
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Foiled! Gold smuggler nabbed by customs officials at IGI airport
Officials say that the department has seized gold worth Rs 1.4 crore in four different incidents recently, for which they have arrested four passengers so far.
Wrapping sweets, chocolates, and wafers in aluminium foil may not seem suspicious, but for Delhi Customs officials, it certainly was. Customs officials recently nabbed a 50-year-old man who had beaten 1 kg of gold into foil and painted it silver to avoid detection.
Gold smuggling into the Capital is certainly on the rise. Officials say that the department has seized gold worth Rs 1.4 crore in four different incidents recently, for which they have arrested four passengers so far.
In the most recent case, officials said that following a tip-off, they intercepted a man who had landed at Delhi airport from Dubai two days ago. While screening his luggage, some objectionable items were spotted and he was requested to cooperate while his bag was getting frisked.
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Trio sentenced after half a million cigarettes smuggled into country
Three men have been jailed after almost half a million cigarettes were smuggled into the country.
Dominik Mrzyglod, 38, previously of Sunset Place in Walton , was jailed for four years in January for his role and for a separate offence where 1.2 million cigarettes were smuggled.
Sebastian Swiezy, 36, of Hogsmill Way in Epsom, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Blackfriars Crown Court last week. He must also complete 120 hours of unpaid work as part of the sentence.
Swiezy fled to Alicante, Spain, but was arrested at Gatwick Airport in April 2016 as he arrived from a flight from Poland. Abdul Faki, 52, of Chandos Road in London, was jailed for 18 months for his part. He was arrested after 486,700 B&B cigarettes were found in a white van he was helping load.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators saw Mrzyglod and Swiezy supplying non-UK duty paid cigarettes to Faki at a car park in Dorking in December 2015.
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/trio-sentenced-after-half-million-13183657
Lear MoreHuge plant producing fakes busted in Bulacan
A huge plant that manufactures several counterfeit products enough for nationwide distribution was busted in Guiguinto, Bulacan Saturday.
Retired Colonel Neil Estrella, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) director, said that billions of pesos worth of counterfeit toiletries, medicines, shoes and cigarettes were seized during the raid inside the Richard Isagani Sandy (RIS) 5 Industrial Complex located in Tabang, Guiguinto.
Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said the plant was owned by certain William, Isagani, and Sandy. Their real identities were still being verified.
“We’re still conducting the inventory but upon discovering the fake products, we can say that they are worth billions of pesos,” Estrella said in a phone interview.
Estrella also disclosed that the plant was not just an ordinary warehouse but “a super warehouse that has a big plant inside.”
http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/06/18/huge-plant-producing-fakes-busted-in-bulacan/
Lear MoreCanadians at risk as counterfeit goods sneak through customs
Canada is losing the war against fake goods, and it’s already cost a few people their lives, according to the founder of the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network.
Lorne Lipkus says customs officials simply don’t have the powers or tools they need to stem the tide of low-quality, brand-name knock-offs slipping into the country each year, from the industry.
“It’s pretty bad,” Lipkus, who founded the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network, told CTV’s Your Morning on Thursday. He says the $600 billion global counterfeiting industry’s reach in Canada is growing, with “anything and everything” being copied for a quick profit. These items can be found in virtually every major city, where they’re sold in every place from retail stores, to warehouses to flea markets.
“They’re likely making more money than the real companies, because they’re not paying for the quality necessary for the product,” Lipkus said of the counterfeiters.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadians-at-risk-as-counterfeit-goods-sneak-through-customs-1.3460549
Lear MoreSmuggling of foreign-made cigarettes rises
GUWAHATI: After dealing with the smuggling of drugs and gold, the anti-vice cell of the state police is now faced with rising instances of cigarette smuggling, brought into the region from neighbouring south Asian countries via Manipur and Nagaland.
“Smugglers bring the items to Guwahati. From here, they are distributed to other parts of the country and neighbouring states. Most of these cigarettes cost less than those made in India. As these cigarettes are not duty paid and many brands have price tags in foreign languages, traders make quite a bit of profit,” sources said.
On Wednesday, state police CID seized foreign-made cigarettes worth Rs 30 lakh from a parking zone at Gopal Than here. “Around 35 cartons of foreign-made cigarettes were found concealed in a truck coming from Nagaland. One person was detained,” sources said. Most of the seized products were made in Myanmar or Korea and are believed to have higher nicotine content that the ones sold in India.
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South Korea arrests 46 year-old Nigerian for smuggling meth worth $1.7m
A 46-year old Nigerian has been arrested for for smuggling large amounts of methamphetamines . The drug also called meth was said to be worth some 2 billion won (US$1.77 million).
The Nigerian is however yet to be identified South Korean Police said on Wednesday that they have arrested a 46 year-old Nigerian for smuggling large amounts of methamphetamines, also called meth, into the country through international mail from China.
The Nigerian yet to be identified is being detained by the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency in Seoul.
https://www.naij.com/1109889-south-korea-arrests-46-year-nigerian-smuggling-meth-worth-17m.html
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