Hong Kong Customs detects suspected case of smuggling illicit tobacco
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – Hong Kong Customs smashed a suspected case of smuggling illicit tobacco at Kwai Chung Cargo Examination Compound on October 17. About 5,300 kilograms of suspected illicit tobacco were seized.
Through risk assessment, Customs officers selected and inspected a 40-foot container declared to contain pillowcases arriving in Hong Kong from Haiphong, Vietnam. After thorough inspection, Customs officers found about 5,300kg of suspected illicit tobacco mix-loaded with 146 cartons of pillows and pillowcases inside the container, with a market value of about $24 million and duty potential of about $12 million.
The unmanifested tobacco was seized for further investigation.
Former Leavenworth guard sentenced for tobacco smuggling
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – A former prison guard at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth has been sentenced to two years of probation for accepting bribes in exchange for providing inmates with contraband tobacco.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 53-year-old Michael Harston, of Kansas City, Missouri, also was ordered Monday to serve six months home confinement and pay $4,800 in fines.
The indictment said Harston took bribes from October 2013 to August 2014. Federal prosecutors said video surveillance at the prison captured Harston distributing tobacco to inmates. The indictment also says Harston received payments from inmates’ relatives through wire transfers ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.
http://www.kttn.com/former-leavenworth-guard-sentenced-for-tobacco-smuggling/
Man who sells fake milk arrested in Cross River
One Christopher Nnabuihe, has been arrested in Cross River State for selling fake Peak Milk.
The 56-year-old man was arrested by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, weekend.
Confirming the arrest in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday, the Coordinator of NAFDAC in the state, Dr. Isaac Kolawole, said the agency acted on a tip-off to arrest Nnabuihe.
“We have been receiving complaints of adulterated Peak milk from consumers, which made us to swing into action.
“The suspect was arrested when he was supplying the products to departmental shops. Taking such an unwholesome and questionable product may result in some form of health problems as nobody can vouch for the content of the fake product and the good hygienic practice.
“We will carry out laboratory analysis on the product.
http://dailypost.ng/2016/10/19/man-sells-fake-milk-arrested-cross-river/
More than 90% of ‘genuine’ Apple chargers & cables sold on Amazon are fake, says Apple
There’s no shortage of third-party chargers and cables sold for Apple equipment, some of them claiming to be the genuine article, but Apple has found that even Amazon has been selling counterfeit products labelled as the real thing. The products concerned were sold by Amazon directly, and not by a third-party Marketplace seller.
The items have now been removed from sale, and Apple is suing the company that made them.Patently Apple reports that Apple has filed a trademark infringement case against Mobile Star LLC, which Amazon named as the primary supplier of the counterfeit products. Apple said that Mobile Star was not only illegally using its trademark, but that the fake chargers had not passed safety tests and posed a risk to consumers.
https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-cables/
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A2IM Warns of Counterfeit CDs Across Amazon.com
Attention music shoppers: Some of those random sellers atop the price search listings on Amazon — you know, the ones offering CDs for a few cents less than Amazon while still boasting the “Fulfillment By Amazon” (FBA) button — may be too good to be true. Independent music trade organization A2IM issued a warning on Tuesday (Oct. 18) alleging a possible rash of counterfeiting across the mega-retailer, with rights holders and labels getting the shaft.
A2IM said it believes illicit copies of relatively new albums are being manufactured in China and are so close to the original that “even the legitimate manufacturer cannot tell without very close examination.” Counterfeiters are pricing the albums slightly below Amazon’s official versions in order to surface their bogus copies right above the genuine article. If you’re one of the few people who doesn’t own Chris Stapleton’s Traveller yet, a price search brings up two sellers with the FBA button, with both pricing the album 13 cents cheaper than Amazon, which is the fourth result. The cheaper versions are even eligible for Prime — a crucial point for many shoppers.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7548962/a2im-warns-of-counterfeit-cds-across-amazoncom
KEBS adopts Unique SMS code for product certification
In a bid to curb the sale of counterfeit products, the Kenya Bureau of Standards has introduced an SMS code system to consumers, a move that has increased consumer confidence.
The KEBS innovation is seen as a sign that the East African nation is movingto exploit technology in enhancing service delivery among its citizens. The technology was necessitated by the proliferation of many fake products on the market that led to outcry among the consumers some of whom questioned the relevance of the Quality assurance body. “We were getting many complaints from members of public about the quality of most consumer goods on the market. Our field agents were working tirelessly to enforce quality but as you know many unscrupulous business men used the existing loopholes to bypass the system,” explained Immaculate Chege, a Marketing Officer from KEBS.
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Marijuana-, tobacco-smuggling guard gets 20 months in prison
HELENA — A former Montana State Prison guard who pleaded guilty to smuggling marijuana and tobacco to inmates has been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon sentenced 25-year-old Martin Reap of Deer Lodge on Tuesday. His prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.
Reap acknowledged receiving about $6,400 for smuggling contraband into the prison 20 times over the course of about a year, beginning in February 2015.
Reap’s plea agreement called for dismissing charges of drug conspiracy, possession and distribution.
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/marijuana–tobacco-smuggling-guard-gets-months-in-prison/article_62570fe6-5bf0-5f62-8ea5-a2e7c4467b95.html
Lack of checks allows tobacco, fuel smuggling to proliferate
At a time when fuel and tobacco smuggling is rife, the authorities are reducing the number of inspections instead of increasing them, resulting in significant revenue losses for the state.
In the fuel market, there is virtually no monitoring, even though the wider gap between the taxes on diesel and heating oil provide the ideal conditions for illegal trade to flourish.
From the 27,365 inspections conducted during 2014, in the first half of this year authorities conducted just 1,702 inspections and confiscated only 60 liters of unleaded gasoline. Furthermore, the data the Finance Ministry receives from the fuel stations’ inflow-outflow systems are not checked, with officials saying the responsible agency is understaffed.
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NAFDAC nabs producer of fake powdered milk
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has arrested one Christopher Nnabuihe over production and selling of fake peal powder in Calabar metropolis.
The NAFDAC Coordinator in Cross River State, Dr. Isaac Kolawole, who disclosed the arrest in a statement yesterday, said they have received complaints of adulterated peak milk from consumers which prompted them to swing into action leading to the arrest of the suspect while making supplies to stores.
Apple Sues Mobile Star for Selling Counterfeit Power Adapters and Charging Cables through Amazon
Apple brings this action to protect its customers from dangerous counterfeit power products such as power adapters and charging cables that Amazon.com LLC (“Amazon.com”) sourced from Defendant Mobile Star LLC (“Mobile Star”) and sold through its internet-based e-commerce platform located at www.amazon.com. Mobile Star also supplied Groupon, Inc./Groupon Goods, Inc. (“Groupon”) with dangerous counterfeit Apple power products that Groupon then sold to consumers through Groupon’s e-commerce platform. Counterfeit power products, such as those supplied by Mobile Star, pose an immediate threat to consumer safety because, unlike genuine Apple products, they are not subjected to industry-standard consumer safety testing and are poorly constructed with inferior or missing components, flawed design, and inadequate electrical insulation.
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