60,000 Smuggled Cigarettes Seized at Jaipur Airport
Two passengers were detained by the Customs Department here after 60,000 cigarettes worth over Rs 3 lakh were seized from them at the Jaipur International Airport, a senior official said today. The accused, identified as Mohammed Abid (36) and Samir Ansari (27), residents of Delhi who had alighted from Air Arabia flight from Sharjah were detained yesterday after six bags filled with Indonesian brand ‘Black’ cigarettes worth Rs 3.09 lakh was recovered from them, Joint Commissioner-Customs, Honhar Singh Meena, told PTI here. A penalty of Rs 20,000 each has been imposed on the duo for allegedly not paying the custom duty and the cigarettes bags were confiscated, Meena said, adding, they were later released after interrogation. According to the rule, a passenger is allowed to carry only 100 cigarettes after staying abroad for three days, but these passengers allegedly tried to smuggle all of the bags, he said.
Lear MoreTobacco products seized
Huge quantities of tobacco products were seized from a vehicle heading towards Moreh from Imphal by personnel of 20 Assam Rifles under the aegis of IGAR (S) at Bongyang village yesterday. According to a reliable source, Huidrom Ingocha Singh (29) of Uyal, Thoubal district and Khongdombi (45) w/o Ghanasyam of Tentha, Thoubal were carrying the tobacco products in a Maruti Van. 6240 packets of Dilbagh Talab (pan masala), 3240 packets of Bengali spit tobacco, 100 tins of Baba chewing tobacco, 500 packets of Rajnigandha and 200 packets of Tulsi royal zarda were recovered from the duo. The items have been handed over to Food Safety Officer, Chandel, the source added.
Lear More
Illegal tobacco seized in Gateshead shops thanks to sniffer dogs Finn and Gunner
Sniffer dogs have been used in searches for illegal cigarettes in some Tyneside shops.Cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco were seized from two convenience shops in Bensham, Gateshead, after intelligence indicated that illegal tobacco was being sold at the premises. At one store, the cigarettes were hidden in a planter under a sink, while in the other cigarettes were hidden in a cupboard behind the counter. The illegal tobacco was either counterfeit or was not labelled in English and duty had not been paid on any of the seized tobacco.Both the shopkeepers now face prosecution by Gateshead Council. Dog handlers George and Chris, along with springer spaniel dogs Finn and Gunner work for local company Assetwatch Ltd, based in Northumberland
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/illegal-tobacco-seized-gateshead-shops-9806870
Lear MoreDerby shopkeeper fined £4,000 for fake tobacco offences at Swadlincote store
A SHOPKEEPER from Derby has been fined £4,000 for possessing and selling fake tobacco. Dana Hamid, of Church Street, Littleover, admitted to eight charges at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court in Derby yesterday. He admitted seven charges of the sale and possession of counterfeit tobacco and one charge of possessing cigarettes for sale without the legally required in-built fire safety features. The offences dated from January 13, 2014, to October 1, 2014, and took place at the Sweet Shop in Church Street, Swadlincote, where Hamid had taken over the tenancy in November 2013.
Lear More
Illicit tobacco chain has devastating costs
With the recently reported court cases about Bradford being a hotspot for trading in illicit tobacco products (T&A, July 30) I would like to echo the words of Cllr Valerie Slater in condemning this activity in illegal tobacco products. The illicit tobacco supply chain has no qualms who they sell to and any control over sales to young children is non-existent with not only their health at risk but also a large financial loss to the country. The Exchequer records losses of excise duty and VAT at £2.9billion per year or £8million per day from the trade, a proportion of which is often used to finance other criminal activities.
Lear MorePrison guard accused in tobacco smuggling, bribery scheme
A prison guard was indicted on bribery charges Wednesday for allegedly smuggling tobacco to inmates at a federal prison in Leavenworth. Michael Harston, 52, was charged in U.S. District Court in Kansas City with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and four counts of accepting bribes. According to federal prosecutors, Harston took bribes between October 2013 and August 2014 in exchange for carrying contraband tobacco into United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth.
Lear More
Illegal cigarettes worth €5,000 seized at Cork horse fair
A file is to be sent to the DPP following the seizure in Cork of illegal cigarettes with a street value of €5,000. Revenue Customs Service in Cork, with assistance from gardaí, uncovered 6kg of “roll your own” tobacco and 4,800 cigarettes when a van and caravan were searched at the annual horse fair in Dunmanway on Tuesday. A man in his forties was arrested in connection with the seizure. He was subsequently released without charge.
Lear More
Stakeholders express worry over influx of fake products in Nigerian market
A renewed worry among stakeholders over the continuous existence and influx of fake products into the Nigerian market in the face of multiple regulatory agencies has developed. Those who expressed concern over this phenomenon in the recent time said the degree of the problem is annoying to the extent that it is difficult sometimes by consumers to separate fake from original products. They said the preponderance of adulterated products in almost all products sold in Nigeria is disturbing. From petroleum products to cosmetics, ICT products, building materials spare parts, computers, insecticides, to clothes, electrical equipment, cooking ingredients, bottled water and more.
Lear MorePolice Officers Training- Capacity Building Programme, New Delhi
3/8/2015 | Specialized Training Center, Rajender Nagar Police Station,New Delhi
The Police department is the primary law enforcement agency. It administers the Government’s economic, trade and tariff policies, handles international traffic of imports & exports, and aids to minimize demerit goods from augmenting in the markets. With low barriers to market entry and infiltration, the Police play a very significant role in ensuring and enforcing the protection of right owners. Keeping the above in view, FICCI CASCADE organized a training programme for the Delhi Police officers on August 03, 2015 at the Rajender Nagar Police Station, New Delhi, with an objective of equipping the police officers to understand and take requisite action against counterfeiters and smugglers.
Mr. Suvashish Chaudhary, IPS, Principal, PTC , the Chief Guest at the programme, emphasized that the police had a significant role in fighting the menace of smuggling and counterfeiting. He stated that although counterfeiting was looked at as a victimless crime, it had many far-reaching consequences and it was extremely important for a police officer to understand the consequences before taking actions on ground. Only then will an officer investigating a case related to smuggling and counterfeiting be able to understand and take suitable actions. He further added that protection of rights takes a key role given the emphasis on the current ’Make in India’ campaign. Hence, awareness generation on counterfeit and smuggled items is a must as this will act as a deterrent to the illicit market operations and give fillip to the economy.
Mr. Deep Chand, Advisor, FICCI CASCADE, in his address informed about FICCI CASCADE’s mandate of capacity building of law enforcement agencies including for Judges, Police and Customs Officers, and how CASCADE had been working extensively in this area nationally. The emphasis was on organizing training programmes and seminars along with continuous interactions with the law enforcement authorities to underline the importance of increased awareness on the serious problem of counterfeit and smuggled goods.
Mr. Chand correlated smuggling and counterfeiting activity with the security challenge in different environments around the world. He cited that illicit trade especially in two product categories i.e. tobacco and alcohol were being increasingly used to fund anti-social and terrorist activities. Mr. Chand also observed that the need of the hour was tangible actions to increase enforcement, and to impose increased punishments. This was imperative to reassure legitimate business owners and consumers that the government was serious about protecting right owners which, in turn, would elicit greater support for government policies.
The training programme was attended by over 50 police officers and provided a useful platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences in the enforcement of laws and practices while dealing with counterfeiters and smugglers. The speakers deliberated on the various aspects that a police officer is needed to keep in mind while investigating cases of smuggling and counterfeiting, including: Legal Provisions to Offences & Penalties for Counterfeiting and Smuggling, Provisions under Patents, Design, Trademarks and Geographical Indications Acts and Practical know-how of Investigation of IP and related Economic Crimes. Other significant areas of discussion included on Tax Arbitrage – Grey Market Operation and Global trends of investigations in counterfeits and their enforcement.
The speakers at the programme included Mr. Mangesh Kashyap, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, IPR, Economic Offence Wing, Delhi Police, Dr. Alka Chawla, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi and Advisor, FICCI Intellectual Property Education Centre, Dr. Prithpal Kaur Assistant Registrar TMR, Patent Office, New Delhi, Mr. Sachin Gupta, Associate Partner, Inttl Advocare and Mr. Kunal Gupta, Executive Director, Grant Thornton India LLP. The participating police personnel found the presentations constructive and interacted actively with the speakers.
Raids Crack Down on Zig-Zag Counterfeiting
In June, on behalf of North Atlantic Operating Co. Inc. and National Tobacco Co. LP, Cantor Colburn attorney Thomas Mango and paralegal Corine Wilkinson participated in two early morning raids led by U.S. marshals to seize counterfeit Zig-Zag cigarette paper products and business records at a commercial business and a residence in Plainfield and Moosup, Conn. Each raid team consisted of two U.S. marshals, several investigators, several data and forensic specialists and an attorney/paralegal team from Venable executing seizure orders from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on a number of merchants and individuals found to be selling counterfeit Zig-Zag cigarette paper products.
http://www.cspnet.com/category-news/tobacco/articles/update-raids-crack-down-zig-zag-counterfeiting
Lear More