News

Orlando man gets 3 years for smuggling contraband into prison as officer

For $1,000, one inmate said, you could get a carton of cigarettes smuggled into the federal prison in Sumter County. All you had to do, the inmate told federal officials, is get the money wired into an account for an Orlando man — a corrections officer at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex.

That inmate and others told federal officials that Antoine D. Clark could also get everything from porn to booze into the prison where he worked. For that, the former corrections officer will return to prison.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-smuggling-contraband-coleman-prison-20141222-story.html

Virginia Considers Increased Tobacco Interdictions, Regulations

The Commonwealth of Virginia is considering forcing retailers to get licenses to sell tobacco products, attempting to increase the difficulty of reselling Virginia-purchased tobacco in other states. Currently, Virginia laws do not restrict to whom wholesalers sell their products, and excise taxes are only applied during retail transactions. The Commonwealth State is one of 14 states without laws requiring cigarette retailers to obtain licensing before selling the products, and also has very low excise taxes on tobacco.

A Chinese e-retailer steps up its fight against the sale of counterfeit goods

Reacting to reports of widespread sales of fake watches, Jumei.com is asking suppliers to add anti-counterfeiting technologies to their products. A Chinese online retailer, stung by revelations of sales of fake watches on its site this summer, is taking additional steps to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods on its web marketplace.

Chen Ou, CEO of Jumei.com, has requested that all suppliers add anti-counterfeiting code to their products to prevent the sale of phony goods. He says he will also buy more goods directly from well-known Western brands to prevent intermediaries from selling counterfeit goods on Jumei.com.

How to avoid falling for counterfeit goods

The problem of counterfeiting is a huge one: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that counterfeiting generates a whopping $250 billion a year in criminal proceeds.There are many victims of this crime, including customers who receive subpar or non-working goods and services, and of course businesses.

“If you could make it, they can fake it,” says Robert Barchiesi, president of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition.

http://world.einnews.com/article/240608574/7PQIRsdKSSc-tod1

Customs foils largest recent case of unmanufactured tobacco smuggling by transhipment

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – Hong Kong Customs smashed a suspected smuggling case involving the transhipment of unmanufactured tobacco from Hong Kong International Terminals on December 10, resulting in the seizure of about 12 000 kilograms of unmanufactured tobacco. This was the largest smuggling case involving the transhipment of unmanufactured tobacco in the past decade.

Through intelligence and in-depth investigation, Hong Kong Customs identified and examined a 40-foot container, declared to contain signposts, on a river trade vessel from the Mainland destined for Australia. About 12 000 kilograms of unmanufactured tobacco were found in the container.

http://7thspace.com/headlines/501426/customs_foils_largest_recent_case_of_unmanufactured_tobacco_smuggling_by_transhipment.html

Portuguese police dismantle tobacco smuggling ring

LISBON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) — Portugal’s National Republican Guard (GNR) police force has dismantled a tobacco smuggling ring and seized around 775,000 packets, or more than 15 million cigarettes, according to a statement on the GNR website.  The GNR also seized 362,000 euros (444,753 U.S. dollars) in cash and two firearms in the operation, the statement said.

“The operation dismantled an organized crime group dedicated to importing smuggled tobacco, through national sea ports, with the aim of fraudulently introducing it into the consumer market, avoiding the payment of any kind of tax,” the GNR said.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=259567

Portuguese police dismantle tobacco smuggling ring

Portugal’s National Republican Guard (GNR) police force has dismantled a tobacco smuggling ring and seized around 775,000 packets, or more than 15 million cigarettes, according to a statement on the GNR website. The GNR also seized 362,000 euros (444,753 U.S. dollars) in cash and two firearms in the operation, the statement said.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/141218/portuguese-police-dismantle-tobacco-smuggling-ring

Lack of awareness helps counterfeits

Lack of awareness helps counterfeits

Lack of consumer awareness is one of the main issues in tackling the counterfeiting problem, say industry players. Even brand owners who deploy solutions to prevent counterfeiting do not spread the awareness, which results in consumers not being able to differentiate between counterfeits and genuine products.

According to the FICCI cascade study released in 2013, the grey market for seven sectors namely alcohol and beverages; auto components; computer hardware; FMCG (packaged food and personal goods); mobile phones, and tobacco products, led to an estimated sale loss of Rs 72,969 crores to the industries and a revenue loss of Rs 26,190 crore to the exchequer.

Cigarette smuggling is just as big as cocaine trafficking

Cigarette smuggling alone costs the EU and its Member States €11 billion per year. A turn over which has reached that of heroin and cocaine. This is a business that in Europe involves between 100 thousand and 150 thousand people and causes serious damages to the economy, because of the the evasion of customs duties. An illegal traffic which is now in the hands of real criminal organizations with significant financial resources, as it is clear from an analysis by the Observatory on crime in agriculture promoted by Coldiretti about the action “Duty free” conducted by the Guardia di Finanza of Ancona. It is a serious damage for Italy too. Just think that, since the economic crisis, in the tobacco sector, it has caused a reduction of about 30 thousand workers and 500 thousand tons of product.

http://www.west-info.eu/cigarette-smuggling-is-just-as-big-as-cocaine-trafficking/