Deadly Fake Goods – $1.9 Billion In Counterfeit Products Includes Rum, Shoes, Appliances
Rum is among the latest items being counterfeited by criminals in Jamaica. The bulk of the $1.9 billion worth of fake goods seized by the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime (C-TOC) Branch last year is being linked to criminals.
The seized items were put on display by the C-TOC’s top security officers during a special press conference in downtown Kingston, yesterday. They included boxes of handbags, shoes, skin-bleaching products, T-shirts, computers and other appliances, clothing, and CDs and DVDs.
Standing deadly still among the items – likening the room to display stalls strewn across downtown’s business hub – were huge drums. Deputy Superintendent Carl Berry of the C-TOC said that they contained chemicals originally intended for cleaning purposes.
They were confiscated from a makeshift distillery operated by organised thugs who were allegedly using other ingredients to turn the deadly chemicals into alcoholic beverages for consumption that smell, taste, and are even of a texture similar to some locally made products.
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Growth of online shopping spurs trade in counterfeit products.
At a glance, the two websites bearing the Pandora name appear strikingly similar, showing glittering images of charms, bracelets and earrings. Pandora.net invites shoppers to explore a new Mother’s Day collection. Pandorapick.com touts deals, oddly, for New Year’s of up to 75 percent off.
The first site is real, and the second, offering silver charms for $9.99, is fake.
Pandora, a Danish jewelry company with U.S. headquarters in Baltimore, and countless other consumer brands are struggling with the growing problem of counterfeit goods. Companies like Pandora and Under Armour have dedicated internal teams seeking out counterfeiters and turn to law enforcement, lawsuits and other channels to protect their brands, but it’s seemingly a game of Whac-A-Mole as one site is taken down, another pops up.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-counterfeit-products-20170430-story.html
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Coast guard arrests two tankers on suspicion of fuel smuggling
The Libyan coastguard has arrested two tankers suspected of smuggling petroleum products following a gun battle which erupted when the vessels refused coastguard orders to stop and be boarded.
“The clashes lasted for three hours, but the two tankers were successfully seized,” said to Qassem Ayoub Qasim, the Libya navy spokesman.
The tankers were seized yesterday off Zuwara, 120 kilometers west of Tripoli. No one is said to have been hurt in the shooting.
According to Qasim, one of the tankers is the Ukrainian-flagged Ruta while the other, the Stark, is from an African country. He did not name the country, however an oil tanker of the same name is registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to MarineTraffic.com, both tankers had sailed from Turkey and were heading to Malta.
Lear MoreSmuggled cigarettes worth €50,000 seized by National Police
OFFICERS from the National Police stopped four cars in La Linea de la Concepcion and discovered 26,600 packs of smuggled cigarettes.
The officers were convinced that there was something underhanded going on when they saw the four vehicles leaving La Linea and heading towards San Roque in what appeared to be a convoy and all of the drivers were using mobile phones.
When all four cars were stopped and searched, the cigarettes which had no customs seals and are valued at €50,000 were discovered.
All four who were arrested were Moroccans living in Spain and are believed to be part of a group involved in tobacco smuggling.
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More than 13,000 illegal cigarettes seized in raids on Norwich shops
A total of 13,500 illegal cigarettes and 250g of illegal hand-rolling tobacco were confiscated from four of six stores which were swooped on.
The raids, part of a crackdown on suppliers of illegal tobacco, were led by trading standards officers who were accompanied by members of Norfolk Constabulary’s licensing, drug and alcohol team, Norwich City Council officers and Stuart Phillips of B.W.Y Canine Ltd with tobacco detection dogs Scamp and Yoyo.
The shops were all targeted as a result of intelligence received from members of the public, businesses and Norfolk Constabulary.
Lear MoreLife has come to standstill in India’s counterfeit capital
KOLKATA: While people in the rest of the country are queuing up outside banks for cash, there is an eerie calm in Kaliachak in Madla district. Following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, life has virtually come to standstill in India’s counterfeit capital.
Figures reveal how large is the fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) business in the area. This year, district police seized Rs 1.14 crore in fake currency. In the last two years, 180 cases of FICN have been lodged at the local police station and 240 people, mainly couriers, arrested.
Apart from West Bengal Police, national agencies too are investigating the FICN cases. The Border Security Force has seized FICN of Rs 1.35 crore in last 10 months while Rs 2.5 crore in FICN was seized in 2015.
Apart from the CBI and the NIA, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating 44 cases of FICN in which money was laundered to foreign countries to fund terror activities in India.
Interpipe launches service to defend against counterfeiting
Ukraine-based Interpipe has stepped up its offensive against counterfeiting, with the launch of an online service that can verify the authenticity of its products onsite.
The steel pipe producer says that its pipe labels are now imprinted with a QR code, which contains encrypted details that are unique to the customer’s specific order. If customers want to verify the authenticity of products, they just have to use their smartphones to scan the QR codes, which are linked to Interpipe’s shipped orders database.
If products are found to be genuine, the consignee will be redirected to a webpage, which will share details about the volume of products, the inspection certificate, date of shipment and heat number. In cases where products may be counterfeit, the customer will be notified and provided with the contact details for the regional sales office to verify the supply.
Andrey Burtsev, Commercial Director for Middle East, Africa and Asia markets, Interpipe said, “The Steel Alliance Against Counterfeiting (SAAC) employs a multifold approach against counterfeiters. As a key member of the alliance, Interpipe implements additional identification features on products to secure their origin. QR-codes on these pipe bundles will be a very effective first step to mitigate counterfeiting. This easy-to-use and technically advanced tool allows our customers to verify the origin of the bundle in just one click.”
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Liberia: ‘Counterfeit Medicines Cause More Deaths’.
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Chairperson of the Authority of Head of States and Government of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), has said that counterfeit drugs continue to pose a serious risk to public health in the sub-region.
The President said the proliferation of these sub-standard medicines, which are falsely labeled, is a major cause of mortality and the loss of public confidence in medicines and in health structures.
She said despite the close cooperation among drug companies, governments and international organizations on trade, health, customs and excise on counterfeiting, the prevalence of counterfeit drugs appears to be rising.
The President made the statement on Monday, April 10, at a resort in Monrovia during the official opening of the meeting of the Joint Committee on Health and Social Welfare, Trade, Customs, and the free movement of the ECOWAS Parliament.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201704110669.html
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About 18,000 convicted for IP piracy, counterfeiting in China.
BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) — Around 18,000 people were convicted on charges of intellectual property (IP) piracy and producing counterfeit products last year, said Vice Premier Wang Yang Tuesday.
Police investigated more than 200,000 cases involving IP piracy and counterfeiting last year and seized 22,000 suspects, said Wang at a national meeting on IP piracy and counterfeit control.
Authorities closed more than 200,000 accounts that were facilitating IP piracy and counterfeiting on the Internet, and handled about 2,000 websites to guarantee the market’s proper operation, he said.
Laying out the essential tasks for this year, Wang said the government planned to tighten online supervision and investigate the source of production.
A special operation to prevent the trade of counterfeit products will be launched, in which cross-border trade along the Belt and Road will be under tight scrutiny, he said.
Supervision of rural markets will be enhanced, and computer software will be another priority, said Wang.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/11/c_136200640.htm
Lear MoreASPA seeks mandatory authentication, anti-counterfeiting laws
With counterfeiting activities growing at the rate of 44 per cent, authentication solution providers on Tuesday sought government intervention to make authentication “mandatory” and enact “specific anti-counterfeiting laws” in the country.
“Counterfeiting is increasing 3 per cent per annum globally. In India, the problem is more severe, it is growing with an alarming rate of almost 44 per cent per year,” Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) General Secretary Arun Agarwal said here.
“No specific anti-counterfeiting laws are in place in the country and using of authentication solution has not been made mandatory,” said International Hologram Manufacturers Association’s Chairman Manoj Kochar.
The officials of the associations said several countries all over the world introduced laws to tackle the menace of counterfeiting. For example, Canada passed Combating Counterfeit Products Act.
“The Indian government also ought to do something similar,” Agarwal told reporters here at the association’s ‘Make Sure India’ campaign.
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