The curious connection between illicit cigarette sales and ISIS
Are loosies a terrorist revenue stream? State Rep. Rick Saccone thinks so.
During a session ahead of a vote on the state budget’s revenue package last week, Saccone, a Republican from Allegheny County, objected to a proposed $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase Wednesday. The new tax, which Governor Wolf signed into law later that day, raises the state’s levy to $2.60 per pack. Saccone viewed this as earning revenue off the backs of the poor, but also he was wary that price hikes might encourage smuggling rings that send money to violent extremists.
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Fake Super Glue floods market
The Alteco Chemical PTE Ltd., a company that produces Alteco 11O Super Glue, has raised an alarm over the faking of its product across the country.
Mr Ifeanyi Dike, the company’s Media Consultant, said on Sunday in Onitsha that the company’s products that were faked and worth millions of naira were confiscated during several raids in Onitsha, Aba and Lagos.
Dike, who noted that over 100 shops were raided in Onitsha alone, said the raid was carried out in collaboration with the Police after obtaining Anton Pillar Order from court.
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/07/17/fake-super-glue-floods-market/
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Special Report: Illegal cigarettes easily available in rural Cork areas
Illegal cigarettes, either counterfeit or contraband, are as easily available in rural areas of Cork as they are in the city. An undercover team of operatives, led by two former senior police officers, uncovered sufficient evidence of the illegal trade in North Cork within a period of just a few hours.
One female operative, a smoker, targets licensed premises in Fermoy, Mallow and Mitchelstown and, after striking up conversations with other smokers, was provided with contact numbers for people selling cheap tobacco products.
Lear MoreTobacco smuggling shoots up by 28 per cent
The amount of tobacco smuggled into Malta grew by some 28 per cent last year, costing the Treasury about €10 million in lost revenue, an EU-wide report seen by the Sunday Times of Malta has estimated.
The study found that while the total legal consumption of cigarettes declined the amount of contraband and counterfeit cigarettes entering the Maltese market went up..
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Counterfeit goods: hotspots and why they are so dangerous
A new BBC investigation has found that the black market for counterfeit goods is doing a roaring trade, particularly in certain parts of the UK.
The most commonly-seized items are clothing and accessories, followed by mobile phone accessories, perfume and cosmetics, tobacco, electrical goods, alcohol, DVDs, vehicle parts and footwear.
Counterfeit goods are becoming more dangerous, with fraudsters faking big brand foods including chocolate bars and bottles of false shampoo.
The trade in counterfeit goods is also having an effect on British business. Many people buy fake items thinking only of the saving they are making not the fact they could be contributing to the death of small local businesses.
Lear MoreFICCI CASCADE associates with NACEN to organize ‘Socio-Economic Impact of Illicit Trade’
The objective was to sensitize trainee officers of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) on the ill effects of illicit trade with special focus on the impact of smuggling on the economy, and society as a whole.
FICCI CASCADE (Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy) in association with the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics, (NACEN) organized a capacity building programme on the ‘Socio-Economic Impact of Illicit Trade’ on July 15 at NACEN, Faridabad. The objective was to sensitize trainee officers of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) on the ill effects of illicit trade with special focus on smuggling on the economy, and on the society as a whole.
Lear MoreSubstandard quality of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides haunts farmers.
“Agriculture department joint director from Vizianagaram district, GSNS Leelavathi told TOI that they plan to form enforcement teams to inspect the quality of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.” Taking advantage of the farmers, the private traders sell fake, illicit and substandard products to them,” Prakash explained.The farmers approach these private traders for loans due to the government not including them in the loan waiver scheme. “Mandal agriculture officer will act as the quality control inspector by collecting the samples of each product from all the traders. As the agriculture season has just begun, we took time and will implement the measures by this month,” Leelavathi said. They then black market the stock and force farmers to buy the produce.
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Turkish customs units confiscate record 3.3 million packs of smuggled cigarettes
a significant anti-smuggling operation yesterday, customs units confiscated 3.3 million packs of cigarettes on their way into Turkey onboard a ship.
The cigarettes confiscated in the operation are believed to have a market value of TL 28.5 million ($9.85 million), which would bring some TL 23 million in tax revenues if sold legally.
Acting on a tip, customs units followed the ship, which departed from the Magosa port in Turkish Cyprus with a declared route to Ukraine’s Skadovsk port. The ship, which passed through the Bosporus and went on to the Black Sea, was put under surveillance. After cruising off the Ukrainian coast for a while, the ship headed back to Istanbul.
The ship’s operators and crew declared they unloaded the ship’s freight in Ukraine and presented a document that said the same.However, Coast Guard and customs enforcement units boarded the ship and found the cigarette packs on board, which weighed some 100 tons in total.
Trader of fake cigarettes nabbed
Police and Barangay Barucboc officials in Quezon, Isabela, arrested on Wednesday a dealer of fake cigarettes who was caught selling reams of counterfeit Mighty and Marvels cigarettes to a sari-sari store.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and law enforcement agencies have been vigilant against dealers of fake products over the past few months as these do not pay the proper taxes and do not contribute to the country’s economy.
The store helper went to the barangay hall and sought the assistance of tanods after a dubious male came by to sell cartons of suspicious cigarettes to the store owner’s daughter who held the suspect pretending she was buying.The barangay officials immediately proceeded to the store and caught the 33-year-old suspect in the act of selling fake Mighty and Marvels menthol and full flavor variants to the sari-sari store.Moments later, a Mighty Corp. representative came by the store and confirmed that the cigarette variants were indeed counterfeit.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/795843/trader-of-fake-cigarettes-nabbed
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Man smuggled cigarettes inside lorry load of frozen onions
A man who smuggled cigarettes into Britain inside a cargo of frozen onions has been locked up.
Marius Majchrzak, 43, was arrested at a storage unit in Manchester containing more than 600,000 cigs. He was carrying a black and silver electronic fob that controlled the roller shutter doors to a unit on Derby Street, Cheetham Hill.
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