French customs agents seize

[korryp]

[link]http://rawstory.com/news/2006/French_customs_agents_seize_large_h_09212006.html[/link]

French customs agents seize large haul of counterfeit Cuban cigars

Deutsche Presse Agentur

Published: Thursday September 21, 2006

Paris- French customs agents at the Charles de Gaulle Airport north of Paris have impounded a shipment of 35,390 counterfeit Cuban cigars, the Customs Service said Thursday. The fake cigars, which have a value of about 365,000 euros (464,000 dollars), were seized at the end of August and were part of a large shipment originating in Panama and destined for Hong Kong.

According to a statement by the Customs Service, the false nature of the cigars "was difficult to detect" as most of the articles accompanying them in the shipment were authentic.

It was the fourth seizure of its kind since May 2 and, according to customs officials, confirms the growth of a new kind of fraud, since no counterfeit cigars had ever been seized in France before that date.

[greenpimp]

This concerns me greatly. I am interested to hear Rob's info/take on this, as far as where it's final destination was, and if it was all fakes or mixed.

Very disconcerting. I imagine as the price continues to rise we will see even more and more of this. (What is the price per pound of cuban cigars, anyway?)

[El Presidente]

I was made aware of this about 10 days ago after receiving a phonecall from PCC.

Habanos s.a is working with French Authorities to determine the authenticity of the product, the final recipient in HK and the source of the product in Panama. If they are fake then this is a huge bust. If they are real, then a Habanos s.a distributor in South America is about to lose his licence for shipping outside of their territory and the final Vendors will be scrambling for new suppliers. On top of this they have taken a serious financial hit.

I am betting on the latter.

[gersonmorelli]

» I was made aware of this about 10 days ago after receiving a phonecall

» from PCC.

»

» Habanos s.a is working with French Authorities to determine the

» authenticity of the product, the final recipient in HK and the source of

» the product in Panama. If they are fake then this is a huge bust. If they

» are real, then a Habanos s.a distributor in South America is about to lose

» his licence for shipping outside of their territory and the final Vendors

» will be scrambling for new suppliers. On top of this they have taken a

» serious financial hit.

»

» I am betting on the latter.

Just a small correction, Prez: Panama is in Central America not South America. :-D

They are also part of Latin America though.

[korryp]

More Info:

http://www.ecaraibes.com/article/article.a...11399842250889#

A translation of the article:

Here's a translation . . .

Roissy: seizure of 35.390 false cuban cigars

The customs officers of the cell of targeting of the freight of Roissy have just carried out their fourth seizure of cigars of the counterfeit in four months and most important realized in France to date, with 35.390 cigars of a value estimated at more than 365.000 euros.

These forgeries were particularly difficult to detect, insofar as they belonged to a batch of 100.000 articles, coming from Panama and bound for HongKong, of which two thirds were authentic.

With the assistance of an expert, the customs officers however managed “to disentangle the truth of the forgery” and to extract from the loading 1.612 boxes of counterfeits of several very known marks of cuban cigars, in particular MONTECRISTO, PARTAGAS, BOLIVAR, COHIBA, DIPLOMATICOS…

This observation is the fourth carried out by the customs officers of Roissy since May 2, which confirms the emergence of a current of fraud of this type of product, because no seizure of cigars of counterfeit had been carried out in France before this date.

The seizure of May 2 related to 4.618 cigars and 1.053 labels originating in Dominican Republic and bound for Dubai.

The second, on June 7, 6.400 cigars coming from Guatemala and bound for Saint-Marteen.

The empty third, on July 10, 30.755 boxes and 51.000 labels counterfeiting marks HABANOS OF CUBA and COHIBA. The loading was coming from Bulgaria and bound for the Dominican Republic, where the false cigars were probably produced for which this packing was intended.

[anacostiakat]

Alarming! You going to cross post this?

[Tampa1257]

That little financial transaction or cost of seizure is going to leave a mark on someone or some business in HK!!!! Thats going to hurt, and could drive someone totally out of business.

[cigarnv]

I would not rule out that the cigars, regardless of authenticity, may have been destined to China as a final destination with HK just serving as the gateway.

Something just seems "fair" about counterfeit cigars being sold in China.....

[El Presidente]

» I would not rule out that the cigars, regardless of authenticity, may have

» been destined to China as a final destination with HK just serving as the

» gateway.

»

» Something just seems "fair" about counterfeit cigars being sold in

» China.....

Most of the cigars seized are not registered for sale in China, Ramon Allones being one. The Chinese market while potentially huge is actually quite small at 250,000 sticks (talking Cubans here). There is parallel importing into mailnland China but it is relatively small scale only because of the Tobacco monopoly enforcement by the Government.

Time will tell.