Seizures and discoveries last week include the largest confiscation of pirated movies in New Zealand; the raid yielded 30,000 DVDs and 10,000 video tapes… Other pirated movies were seized in Hong Kong, South Africa and the UK… More than 2 million counterfeit cigarettes have been seized in the last two weeks in Los Angeles… A major drug lab has been raided in Canada capable of producing counterfeit pharmaceuticals and illegal narcotics at the same time.

Cases and outcomes last week include the indictment of three people in one of the largest counterfeit goods prosecutions in US history relating to a sophisticated criminal conspiracy trafficking fake goods from China to the US… A court in India has sentenced a man to 15 years in jail for manufacturing and selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals… Cartier International won almost $1 million in damages against a counterfeit watch operation in New York. The operation distributed the fake goods via a number of websites… A seller of pirated DVDs in the UK has been ordered to pay £77,500 under the Proceeds of Crime Act or he will face jail.

Studies and reports out last week include one from China stating that in a four-month crackdown on substandard goods 1480 arrests were made… In the UAE a study has revealed that FMCGs, auto parts, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries lose $670 million due to counterfeits… Also in the UAE, it is estimated that due to TV piracy illegal viewers outweigh genuine subscribers by 10 - 1.