HONG KONG: Customs officers are no strangers to counterfeit red wine and pork luncheon meat. But as the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches next week. They have seized their first mooncakes bearing the forged trademark of a traditional bakery in Yuen Long.
The Hang Heung Cake Shop is the latest brand to fall victim to counterfeiters after 135 boxes of double-yolk white lotus seed paste mooncakes were seized from a cosmetics and beauty centre in Yuen Long.
Officers arrested the proprietor of the centre, a 50-year-old woman, on suspicion of selling mooncakes bearing fake labels to her clients.
The haul was believed to have been produced on the mainland and was worth about HK$20,000, the Customs and Excise Department said.
Michael Kwan Yuk-kwan, operations chief of customs' intellectual property investigation group, said the ingredients of the fake Hang Heung snack were of a low quality but were not harmful to health, according to tests.
"The egg yolk in the real product is very big and tastes good, but is very small and rather dry in the fake mooncake," he said.
The counterfeit product has a description of the ingredients printed on the metal box and the fireworks pattern on the lid is badly done.
A genuine box of Hang Heung double-yolk white lotus seed paste mooncakes sells for about HK$200, but the fakes are priced at only HK$120.
Kwan believed a very limited quantity had been sold in Hong Kong for the festival, which falls on September 19.
The woman has been released on bail and has not been charged.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance people who sell goods bearing a forged trademark face a jail term of up to five years and a HK$500,000 fine.
All inquiries about falsely labelled mooncakes should be directed to the customs hotline on 2545 6182.
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police have arrested a navy officer suspected of involvement in smuggling people in fishing boats to Australia.
The Sri Lankan officer was taken into custody following the discovery of 73 would-be illegal immigrants in a trawler off the island's southern coast six weeks ago, a police officer said.
Four navy sailors were taken into custody last month following the trawler's interception. But Lieutenant Commander Sanjeewa Annatugoda is the most senior officer to be arrested in connection with people smuggling, police said.
A navy official, who declined to be named, confirmed the officer's arrest, and said internal investigations were underway. The latest arrest of a navy officer is an embarrassment for Colombo which has maintained that there is no senior level official collusion with people smugglers.
Australia has said it will transfer all asylum seekers to impoverished Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Even if their asylum claims succeed, they will not be settled in Australia. But Sri Lankan officials said the announcement did not appear to be a deterrent for many Sri Lankans hoping to start a new life in Australia.
Australia has been supporting efforts by Sri Lanka's navy to improve its ability to detect people-smuggling boats.
MUMBAI: The Indian customs officials have arrested a Ghana national at Mumbai's international airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 1kg of cocaine into the city.
According to assistant commissioner of Customs, Rishi Yadav, the accused had filled the cocaine in 76 capsules, which were found in his stomach at the time of his arrest. The cocaine is said to be bought from Latin Americans.
The accused has only been identified as Mubarak, who as per his passport details, has come to the city for the first time. Mubarak left Brazil and landed in Dubai, from where he took another flight to Mumbai.
Mubarak was stopped by air intelligence unit, that during his X-ray screening, spotted a lot of capsules in his stomach. Mubarak broke down and confessed thereafter. Using him, the Customs officials have also arrested another accused from the city, who was to help Mubarak in circulating the drugs.