Over 1 million counterfeit goods seized in EU
BRUSSELS, Oct 6 (KUNA) — Up to 1.2 million counterfeit goods and 130 million cigarettes were seized during an international joint customs operation coordinated by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). The European Commission in a statement Monday said the operation, code-named REPLICA, targeted the import of counterfeit goods by sea. These checks uncovered a wide array of bogus goods including cigarettes, perfumes, car and bicycle spare parts, toys, fashion accessories and electric devices.
Operation REPLICA was organised within the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) framework as part of joint efforts in the fight against counterfeit goods. It was the first time that a Chinese Customs Liaison Officer worked from the operational headquarters at OLAF in Brussels.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2400926&language=en
Lear MoreOperation REPLICA: 1.2 million counterfeit goods and 130 million cigarettes seized in EU-led operation
Over 1.2 million counterfeit goods and 130 million cigarettes were seized during an international joint customs operation coordinated by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). The Operation, code-named REPLICA, targeted the import of counterfeit goods by sea. Under the coordination of OLAF, customs authorities carried out targeted physical or X-ray controls on several hundred selected containers. These checks uncovered a wide array of counterfeit goods including cigarettes, perfumes, car and bicycle spare parts, toys, fashion accessories and electric devices. The seizures of cigarettes alone prevented the loss of €25 million in customs duties and taxes. In fact, the amount of cigarettes seized is equivalent to what 17 000 people, smoking a packet a day, would consume in a year. In terms of overall seizures in this Operation, the value of the equivalent genuine products is estimated to be over €65 million.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-1094_en.htm
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Personal finance tips: How to catch counterfeit goods online, and more
Three top pieces of financial advice — from protecting your credit cards to avoiding common investment errors.
How to protect your credit cards
“Ever wonder how your credit card could have been used to buy cellphones in Cleveland when you just swiped it at your grocery store an hour ago?” asked Christine DiGangi at Credit.com. It actually isn’t difficult for thieves to “manufacture fake cards” with stolen data and go on spending binges. And though it’s possible that your data might be stolen by an “ATM that has been tampered with” or a dishonest restaurant server, it’s far more likely your card will be compromised “in one of those massive data breaches you’ve been reading about recently.” You can’t prevent all theft, but you’ll be more protected by using only secure payment websites, never storing payment information in your Web browser, and checking your account activity daily.
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Letter: Cigarette smuggling increases smoking rate
It’s time for New York leaders to wake up and start listening to state law enforcement professionals. The adult smoking rate is going up because of the growing crime wave of cigarette smuggling in the Empire State, not because of budget cuts to anti-tobacco programs. Each year investigative experts estimate that between 50 percent and 60 percent of all cigarettes smoked in New York City are trafficked via the black market. Smokers are spending less for illegal contraband cigarettes than ever before, making it easier to light up.
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Brief: US Customs seize fake handbags, Lego worth $500k
Seized Michael Kors handbag: US Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Houston/Galveston seaport seized more than 200 counterfeit designer handbags and other goods with an estimated retail price of $500,000. The fakes – which included copies of Michael Kors, Prada and Christian Dior items amongst other brands – originated from China and were manifested as bags, plastic toys and jewelry. The haul also included 50 packs of plastic building blocks bearing Lego branding that were deemed to contravene trademark laws.
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Russia to allow limited Internet sales of alcohol
Russia is planning to relax its stringent controls on the sale of alcohol over the Internet, though some restrictions will remain in effect. The ban on selling alcohol online was first introduced in 2007, in part to curb rampant alcohol abuse in the country but also in a bid to clamp down on widespread sales of harmful counterfeit and bootleg products. The year before the ban was introduced, it was estimated by the country’s interior ministry that counterfeit alcohol was killing 42,000 Russians a year.
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Canadian Mounties seize fake OxyContin
Bagged pillsPolice in Canada are warning the public to beware of counterfeit OxyContin pills laced with the potent opioid analgesic fentanyl. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey, British Columbia, seized around 4,700 green tablets – worth in excess of C$350,000 ($310,000) – that purport to be 80mg OxyContin (oxycodone hydrochloride). Lab analyses confirmed that tablets – which have 80 stamped on one side and CDN on the other – contained caffeine and fentanyl, which is more potent than heroin or morphine.
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Sales of cigarettes at duty-free stores encouraging smuggling: civic groups
Several civic groups yesterday urged the government to halt sales of duty-free cigarettes at the nation’s airports to put an end to the rampant practice of people buying large quantities of tax-exempt tobacco products and selling them to youngsters for a profit.
“Since last year, we have been receiving anonymous complaints that a growing number of tobacco brokers, duty-free shop employees, airport workers, or tourist guides have taken advantage of the nature of their professions to buy large quantities of duty-free cigarettes abroad or at the nation’s airports and smuggle them into the country,” John Tung Foundation chief executive officer Yao Shi-yuan said yesterday in a press release.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/10/04/2003601247
Lear MoreSmuggled cigarettes and alcohol found in Derby shop
A DERBY store could be stopped from selling alcohol after its director was convicted of smuggling.
The city council has said that Redas Norgaila, director of Zolushka, Becket Street, pleaded guilty in May to smuggling tobacco, cigarettes and alcohol. Now the authority’s trading standards team has called on its general licensing sub committee to review the store’s licence to sell alcohol. It could revoke or suspend it, modify conditions, or remove the designated premises supervisor – currently Ilona Dalisanskaite.
Lear MoreCIDG operatives seize fake, smuggled goods worth P500M
Counterfeit and smuggled goods worth more than P500 million were seized during a two-day operation launched by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Manila. Director Benjamin Magalong, CIDG chief, said operatives of the CIDG’s Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Unit, under Senior Supt. Bartolome Bustamante, led the operations against seven big warehouses in Tondo on Oct. 2-3. Magalong said the raids were made jointly with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, the Bureau of Customs and the National Bureau of Investigation.
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