Hundreds of fake Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags seized in Manchester shop raid
Hundreds of fake Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags were seized in a raid on a north Manchester shop as part of a crackdown on counterfeit crime.
Trading standards officers from Manchester council uncovered the haul at MH Important and Export Ltd months after the company was sent a cease and desist letter from Chanel.
Hakan Yazar, the director of the firm formerly based in Cheetham Hill, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Trade Marks Act in Manchester Magistrates Court last week.
The 43-year-old, of Shayfield Road, Manchester, said he was responsible for ordering the stock but claimed to have no knowledge of what trademarks were.
He also claimed that he intended to destroy the bags but had trouble in doing so, and that he had no recollection of being advised by Manchester council not to sell counterfeit goods.
Lear MoreThat’s Not Paint On Jeans. It’s Gold Being Smuggled In Kerala
The gold was in the form of a thin paste concealed within double-layered pants.
Officials at the Kannur airport in Kerala seized 302 grams of gold on Monday morning. The Air Intelligence Unit and the Customs department seized gold worth ₹ 14 lakh at the airport from a passenger who had managed to hide the gold in a rather novel manner. According to a tweet by the news agency ANI, contrary to the usual jewellery or biscuit forms that the precious metal is smuggled in, this time around, it was in paste form. The accused was attempting to smuggle the gold as a paste that was hidden between the layers of the pair of pants that the passenger was wearing.
The image shared by the news agency features the double-layered pants in question that has been cut up to reveal the said gold paste. The image shows the stark-yellow, gold paste spread all along the length of the pants. Along with the image, ANI quoted the Customs Preventive Unit in Kochi as saying, “Air Intelligence Unit at Kannur airport has seized 302 grams of gold in the form of a very thin paste, concealed within the double-layered pants worn by a passenger.”
Social media users were taken aback by the sheer ingenuity showcased by the alleged smuggler in the case. “What a technique!” said one shocked user.
Lear MoreGold worth ₹16.21 lakh seized at Mangaluru Airport
Customs officials at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) have seized gold weighing 335 grams, valued at ₹16,21,400 from a passenger from Dubai.
The gold was being smuggled by concealing it in bolts and wheel connecting rods in two skating boards from the passenger, identified as Muhammed Navas hailing from Muliyar, Kasaragod in Kerala.
The passenger arrived from Dubai by Air India Express flight No IX 384 on Saturday.
The operations were led by Customs superintendent M. Manokarthayini, along with superintendents B. M. Nagesh Kumar, Naveen Kumar, Subhendu Ranjan Behera, Virag Shukla, V. S. Ajith Kumar, P. C. Padhi, Satish Kumar and inspector Prafull Mittal, a Customs release here said.
The operations were conducted under the guidance of Customs Commissioner Imamuddin Ahmad. Further investigation is under progress.
The Commissioner appreciated the efforts made by the officers in checking smuggling by detecting different kinds of modus operandi adopted by the unscrupulous elements to bring gold into the country illegally.
Lear More
CBP Foils Attempts to Smuggle Over $53 Million Worth of Fake Designer Products
LOS ANGELES— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport in coordination with import specialists from the Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising (CPMM) and Apparel, Footwear and Textiles (AFT) Centers of Excellence and Expertise seized 39,243 counterfeit designer products arriving in two containerized cargo shipments from China.
CBP partnered with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents to seize the first shipment on July 19, and a second one on July 30, in independent smuggling attempts.
CBP officers discovered sandals, handbags, sneakers, hats, wallets, backpacks, mobile phone cases, and belts bearing numerous registered and recorded trademarks, such as Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Yeezy, Versace, Fendi, Balenciaga, Burberry, Chrome Hearts, Nike, Air Jordan, and Ferragamo.
If genuine, the seized merchandise would have had a combined estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $53,745,802.
Lear More
Manitoba seizes nearly 10K contraband cigarettes after inspecting 15 Winnipeg stores
WINNIPEG – Manitoba Finance’s special investigations unit (SIU) seized nearly 10,000 contraband cigarettes and 32,000 grams of shisha after conducting compliance inspections at 15 stores across Winnipeg.
Following these inspection, seven establishments and eight people were charged. The SIU seized 9,898 cigarettes and 32,000 grams of shisha, an illegal flavoured water pipe tobacco.
Had these cigarettes been sold, the province could have lost $12,249 in tax revenue.
The province notes that the accused face charges under Manitoba’s Tobacco Tax Act and the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act. Some of the accused could also face charges under the Criminal Code of Canada.
If those accused are convicted for first-time offences under the provincial tax acts, they could be fined between $1,000 and $10,000 and/or face up to six months in prison. These individuals could also face a triple tax penalty of various amounts.
Lear MorePolice seize 40,000 bottles of Codeine Phosphate syrup worth over Rs 2 crore in Assam’s Karimganj
Assam Police seized a huge quantity of contraband drugs, estimated to be worth over Rs 2 crore, on Sunday at the Churaibari area in Assam’s Karimganj district along the state’s border with Tripura.
According to the reports, police seized a consignment of Codeine Phosphate syrup from a truck. A top police official of the Karimganj district said, “During regular checking, a police team seized 40,000 bottles of Codeine Phosphate cough syrup from a truck at Churaibari area.”
“The truck was heading towards Agartala. The market value of the seized cough syrup bottles is worth over Rs 2 crore,” the police official added.
The contraband drugs were packed in 250 cartons and concealed under 100 cartoons of fruits in the truck. The police arrested the driver of the truck and registered a case.
Reacting on the development, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted, “#AssamAgainstDrugs Our police is hawk-eyed! On sniffing foul play, @assampolice seized a massive haul of 40,000 bottles of Codeine Phosphate, packed in 250 cartons & concealed under 100 cartons of fruits, in a truck at Karimganj, on way to another state.”
Lear More
Businessman jailed for running multi-million pound fake clothes factory in Hockley
Inderjit Sangu, aged 67, from West Bromwich, was caught in possession of thousands of counterfeit labels and clothing items ripping off big-name brands including Moncler, Canada Goose, Nike, Adidas, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Hugo Boss and Lacoste.
A man behind a multi-million pound fake clothes factory has been jailed for four years.
Inderjit Sangu ran an ‘industrial scale’ operation out of his unit in Hockley supplying markets around the country with knock-off items.
The 67-year-old ripped off luxury brands such as Moncler and Canada Goose which sell garments for hundreds of pounds each. He also imitated a host of other big-name retailers including Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, Versace, Prada, Givenchy, Lacoste, Nike and Adidas.
When Trading Standards officials raided his unit on Park Road they seized more than 40,000 fake labels, and ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of clothing items with the labels already fitted.
Lear MoreGold worth ₹22 lakh hidden in hairbands, blender seized at Mangaluru airport
Smuggled gold valued at Rs 22 lakh was seized from two passengers who arrived at the Mangaluru airport from Dubai on Sunday.
The gold was confiscated in two separate incidents.
In one incident on Sunday, officials intercepted a passenger hailing from Kasargod, in Kerala, for smuggling gold concealed in the armature portion of a blender along with other personal effects.
Gold of net weight 350.33 gm valued at Rs 16.85 lakh was seized from his possession.
Meanwhile, officials seized 115 gm of gold worth Rs 5.58 lakh from a male passenger hailing from Murdeshwar in Karnataka. The passenger had concealed gold inside the beads of hairbands.
The operation was supervised by Commissioner Imamuddin Ahmad, Joint Commissioner Joaneness George C, and Assistant Commissioner Vasudeva Naik D.
Lear More
Fake Tata wire brand products seized in Andhra Pradesh
The Tata Steel intelligence unit along with Andhra Pradesh police seized counterfeit Tata Wiron chain link fences and barbed wires from multiple locations in Nellore district of the southern state on Friday.
Tata Wiron is the brand name for Tata Steel’s global wire business, considered one of the leading steel wire manufacturers in the world. It has manufacturing facilities at Telco in Jamshedpur and in Maharashtra.
“Tata Wiron’s chain link fences and barbed wires are packaged in a unique manner and all original products are sold with the same packaging by authorised dealers and distributors. Upon receiving information that multiple locations in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh were selling Tata Wiron chain link fences and barbed wires in non-standard packaging, Tata Steel with the help of Andhra Pradesh police conducted joint raids in four locations and seized counterfeit chain link fences worth Rs 5 lakh and barbed wires estimated at Rs 1.54 lakh,” said a Tata Steel spokesperson.
The raids were conducted at four locations under Vedayapalem, Venkatachala Satram and Sydapuram police stations in Nellore district.
Lear More
Assam Rifles seized foreign cigarettes worth Rs 6.53 crore, arms
AIZAWL: Assam Rifles have seized foreign origin cigarettes worth Rs 6.53 crore and a large cache of firearms from two Mizoram districts adjoining the Myanmar and Bangladesh borders, officials said on Friday. Sources said that 502 boxes of foreign origin cigarettes valued at Rs 6.53 crore were seized at Ruantlang and Kelkang-Khaungleng Road in Champhai district adjoining Myanmar in eastern Mizoram on Thursday. Three people were arrested.
The operation was jointly carried out by Assam Rifles and the Customs Preventive Force. In another raid, the Central paramilitary troopers along with Mizoram Police on Thursday recovered three pistols, 174 live rounds, three kg explosives, nine detonators and other such stores including Improvised Explosive Devices from a jungle at Hmawngbu village in Lawngtlai district adjoining Myanmar and Bangladesh borders.
Lear More