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The South African Police Service (SAPS) has cracked down on counterfeit trade, seizing fake goods worth over R90 million and arresting 37 suspects in a series of operations conducted in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal throughout January.

More than 70,000 counterfeit items, including cellphones, pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, toys, clothing, and other consumables, were confiscated during multiple raids. The operations were led by the National Counterfeit Goods Unit, with support from provincial units, the Department of Home Affairs, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Customs division, and brand protection agencies.

https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/police-seize-r90-million-in-counterfeit-goods-arrest-37-suspects/

Hyderabad: A man was arrested by the Hyderabad City police on Saturday, February 1, for printing and circulating fake Indian currency. The accused has been identified as Pabbati Murali Krishna, 38, a native of Guntur of Andhra Pradesh. He was arrested near Sri Ganesh Tiffin Centre, Bazar Ghat, under Nampally police station limits.

The police seized counterfeit currency worth Rs 11,10,500 in Rs 500 denominations and other incriminating evidence including the printing materials. According to the police, the accused Murali Krishna has been making counterfeit currencies using his knowledge of graphic design and circulating fake notes in metro cities with the help of his associates.

The police said that he had been arrested thrice for making counterfeit currency, including the Kavali police station of Andhra Pradesh, and the Begum Bazar police station of Hyderabad among others. He was later released on surety bonds.

https://www.siasat.com/counterfeit-currency-maker-arrested-in-hyderabad-over-rs-10-lakh-seized-3174215/

Kochi: Customs sleuths intercepted an SUV in Palakkad and foreign-origin fake Indian cigarettes worth Rs 61.5 lakh were seized.

According to customs, on Jan 24, officers of customs preventive division, Thrissur, received intelligence that such cigarettes were being brought from Malappuram to Palakkad. They intercepted a car on Palakkad-Kozhikode national highway, near Puthupariyaram in Palakkad. Upon searching, 15 cartons (1,50,000 sticks) of foreign-origin fake Indian cigarettes were recovered, said officials. The owner of the goods revealed that more such cigarettes were stored near Valluvambram, Malappuram.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/customs-seizes-fake-cigarettes-worth-61l/articleshow/117823250.cms

GARDAÍ HAVE SEIZED luxury goods, counterfeit Apple headphones and over €25,000 in cash following two searches in Dublin.

The searches, carried out as part of an operation targeting intellectual property crime, were carried out at business and residential premises in the Dublin 1 and Dublin 13 areas.

Gardaí attached to the Dublin Metropolitan Region Intellectual Property and Counterfeit Investigations Unit conducted the searches, alongside the Dublin Crime Response Team and assisted by the National Criminal Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI).

https://www.thejournal.ie/gardai-seize-counterfeit-headphones-designer-goods-cash-6611273-Jan2025/

CHENNAI: AIU sleuths in Tiruchy International Airport seized 51,600 foreign cigarettes worth Rs 7.82 lakhs from a passenger flying in from Sharjah on Monday.

According to sources, while the AIU officials were inspecting the baggage of the passengers from Sharjah, who flew in on Air India Express flight (No IX 614), they suspected the movement of a male passenger and took him to a separate place and inspected his belonging in which they found that he was smuggling as many 50,000 sticks of ESSE Special Gold Cigarette in 250 cartons and 1,600 sticks of Davidoff White Slims Cigarette in eight cartons (each carton with 10 packets and each packet containing 20 sticks) together valued at Rs 7.82 lakh.

Subsequently, the officials seized the bundles and secured the passenger for further interrogation.

https://www.dtnext.in/news/tamilnadu/aiu-seizes-foreign-cigarettes-worth-rs-782-lakh-in-tiruchy-airport-820834

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Police apprehended three persons for allegedly selling fake and tampered Fastrack watches illegally posing them as originals.

The police seized as many as 6,037 watches worth Rs 1 crore from the possession of the accused. The arrested were identified as Lalan Yadav, Gautam Sav and Kailash Sav. All of them are residents of Hyderabad and natives of Bihar.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Ande Srinivasa Rao said that the accused did not complete their studies due to a lack of interest. They migrated to Hyderabad and started selling phone covers and artificial jewellery, googles etc in the limits of Charminar and Begum Bazar.

https://newsmeter.in/hyderabad/3-held-for-selling-tampered-fastrack-watches-at-charminar-rs-1-cr-worth-goods-seized-742755

Mumbai, Jan 6 (UNI) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had seized 74,000 capsules (29.6kg) of illicitly diverted pharmaceutical drugs worth Rs 75 lakh and 244,400 imported cigarettes linked with an international syndicate, which were destined for London, United Kingdom, officials said here on Monday.

The NCB officials said that seizures were made during a search operation at the Air Cargo Terminal of Mumbai Airport after input was received about an international syndicate that is involved in the procurement of pharmaceutical drugs from India through illicit diversion and further transported it to offshore-based customers.

https://www.uniindia.com/maha-ncb-seizes-74-400-illicit-capsules-and-imported-cigarettes/west/news/3361370.html

GEORGE TOWN: Marine police arrested two male foreign nationals and seized 4,120 cartons of cigarettes, worth RM847,616 including tax, in a raid on an unnumbered premises in Butterworth yesterday.

Marine Police Region 1 commander ACP Rusley Chi Ari said the raid was carried out by a Marine Intelligence Unit (URM) as part of Operation Taring Landai in the area at about 1 pm.

https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/marine-police-arrest-two-foreigners-seize-cigarettes-worth-over-rm840000-BO13486412

MUMBAI: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai, busted a gold smuggling racket at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Sahar, by arresting five people, including two airport employees, and seized 6.3 kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 4.84 crore. Last year, more than two dozen airport and airline staffers were arrested for aiding and abetting the syndicate.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/5-crore-gold-seized-two-airport-staff-among-5-held/articleshow/116923300.cms