Counterfeit

PNG’s growing counterfeit industry

This is not the first, and sadly, not the last of incidents where counterfeit goods pass right under the noses of those who are supposed to be protecting the borders, and citizens, of PNG.

A large, white warehouse containing cigarettes of unknown origin, including manufacturing equipment, was uncovered at the Kennedy Estate through a month-long surveillance.

National Drug and Vice Squad investigator, Thomas Moiyang, believed the contents of various brands of cigarettes, including Marlboro, were all mixed together, then repacked and sold in PNG.

80 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes confiscated

A lone policeman from Omili Police Station in Lae, with community leaders, conducted a walk through Nawaeb Block all the way to Kamkumung settlement when they approached suspicious movement of people in the area.

The group, upon realising that it was police, dropped some of the cartons they were carrying and made a run for it. 

Police and the community went through the area and retrieved up to 80 cartons of counterfeit Pall Mall red cigarettes.