PORT ELIZABETH - SAPS SEIZE OVER R7 MILLION WORTH OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS FROM PE SHOP

The recovery of counterfeit goods worth millions of rands in Port Elizabeth is an affirmation of Zizojika Izinto – turning the tide against crime.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) remains committed in turning the tide against crime and the proliferation and/or selling of illicit and counterfeit goods in the Province. This was realised when Border Policing members in the Port of Ngqura acted on information received on counterfeit products/ items that were sold in a shop in Port Elizabeth.

On 12 November 2019 at about 17:00,  a  multi-disciplinary team comprising of the SAPS, Adams & Adams and Spoor & Fischer patent attorneys (experts) as  well as representatives of brand companies swooped in on the identified shop in Port Elizabeth. During the operation, counterfeit perfumes and branded clothing to the value of R7 129 650. 00 were identified and confiscated.

The following commodities with an estimated value of R6 958 600. 00 were seized: 

•1 440 X HUGO BOSS perfume bottles;

•58 x DIESEL perfume bottles;

•912 x BAMBO perfume bottles;

•542 x FERRRI perfume bottles;

•740 x BLACK OPIUM perfume bottles;

•47 x CHAMPAGNE perfume bottles;

•174 x DEAR MISS perfume bottles;

•193 x CALVIN KLEIN perfume bottles;

•93 x MARC JACOBS perfume bottles;

•724 x POLO perfume bottles;

•455 x LACOSTE perfume bottles;

• 524 x COCO CHANEL perfume bottles;

• 232 x BVLGARI perfume bottles and

• 75 pieces of Monopoly board games

Other clothing items including branded Nike, Adidas, Puma and K-way brands to the value of R171 050. 00 were confiscated from the street hawker. The items with an estimated value of R171 050. 00 included:

• 77 x pieces of Adidas clothing;

• 19 x Adidas sneakers;

• 44 x Adidas caps;

• 7 x Adidas watches;

• 3 x Nike bags;

• 43 x Nike caps;

•28 x pieces of Nike clothing;

• 5 x pieces of Puma clothing;

• 38 x Puma caps;

• 6 x Puma bags and

• 35 x K-way caps

All the seized items were handed over to the brand attorney’s representatives for further investigation. The suspects were warned in terms of dealing in counterfeit goods and their documentation was verified by Department of Home Affairs. 

The Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga commended the members for hastening to follow the information as soon as it was received and thanked the law abiding citizens for continuing to share credible information with the SAPS.

“Tough times are ahead for criminals who continue to undermine the authority of the State in Eastern Cape, We have committed ourselves when we launched our 2019/2020 Safer Festive Season Operations in East London on 6 November 2019 and we will continue to stamp the authority of the State and will not allow our province to be the hideout spot for illegal traders fleeing from other provinces,” said Lt Gen Ntshinga.

via - SAPS