Recently, the Food and Drug Environmental Crime Investigation Detachment of the Ningbo Municipal Public Security Bureau, together with the Ningbo Tobacco Monopoly Bureau and the Ningbo Cixi Public Security and Tobacco Department, cooperated with the Guangdong Public Security and Tobacco Department to investigate the “11.04″ case that was previously filed and handled. Launched a joint network collection operation and successfully cracked the largest cross-border e-cigarette case in Zhejiang Province, involving more than 30 million yuan.
More than 100 public security officers and tobacco inspectors were mobilized that day, and they were divided into 22 arrest teams. They were carried out simultaneously in Cixi, Shenzhen, Dongguan and other places. 17 criminal suspects were arrested on the spot, 9 production dens were destroyed, and the plastic sealing machines were seized. 35 sets, 7 printing machines, 50 printing templates, more than 130,000 packaging boxes, nearly 100 barrels of e-liquid, and 8 tons of other supporting materials. There are more than 70,000 new e-cigarettes such as “Cup”.
The production and processing site of counterfeit electronic cigarettes. Photo courtesy of Ningbo Tobacco Monopoly Bureau
After investigation, since October 2022, the suspect Wang (pseudonym) and others have been engaged in illegal and criminal activities of producing and selling counterfeit e-cigarettes of multiple brands such as “elfbar”. The gang has a complete, mature, and rigorous organizational structure. After rough processing of raw materials in Guangdong, they are sent to a certain place in Ningbo for marking and packaging, and then sold to domestic and foreign markets through agents.
On the same day, the joint task force carried out synchronous collection of raw material suppliers, processing and production dens, and sales agency networks, and eliminated this huge cross-border production and sales of counterfeit e-cigarette gangs in one fell swoop, realizing the entire chain, all elements, and all links. The normal tobacco business order has been maintained, and the lives, health and safety of the people have been effectively guaranteed.
This case is the first large-scale cross-border tobacco-related crime cracked by the joint operation of Ningbo Public Security and Tobacco since the establishment of the Execution Co-Governance Intelligence Research and Judgment Center. The results highlighted the important role of the tobacco-related intelligence command center, deterred illegal activities related to tobacco, and laid a solid foundation for effectively maintaining market order.
Post time: Dec-30-2022
