Following a lengthy investigation into the sale of counterfeit cigarettes, twenty law enforcement officers from several agencies served a multi-location search warrant at 7:00AM, Monday, July 2, 2012.
More than $1.8 million in counterfeit cigarettes and nearly $100,000 in counterfeit Viagra pills were seized in the Cities of Rosemead, Montebello, and South El Monte, as well as unincorporated East Los Angeles.
Deputies assigned to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department - Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Bureau - Counterfeit and Anti-Piracy Enforcement (CAPE) Team, along with investigators from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Board of Equalization, and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, participated in the warrant service. They were assisted by private investigators representing Altria - Phillip Morris Company.
Today’s search warrant was a culmination of an investigation that began more than one year ago, when investigators learned several individuals in the Los Angeles area were importing and selling counterfeit and duty-free cigarettes.
After gathering sufficient evidence to implicate several persons in the crime, detectives assigned to the CAPE team authored a search warrant identifying four locations to be searched.
Two of those locations were storage units located in the 1700 block of Eastern Avenue in East Los Angeles and the 1100 block of Peck Road in South El Monte. A search of those locations yielded nearly 30,000 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes, and more than 4,000 counterfeit Viagra pills. Investigators also found counterfeit tax stamps from the states of California, Arizona, Minnesota, New York and New Jersey. The bogus tax stamps are used to avoid paying State and Federal cigarette taxes. Investigators estimated the forged tax stamps would have cost the taxpayers of the State of California nearly $260,000.00 in state taxes and $300,000.00 in Federal taxes in lost tax revenue.
During a search of the suspect’s residence, located in the 9400 block of Ralph Street in Rosemead, investigators recovered nearly $110,000 in cash that had been hidden inside the home. They also arrested a 42-year-old female resident, and a 37 year-old-male for sales and distribution of counterfeit merchandise. Both suspects face up to three years in prison, and a $1,000,000 fine if convicted.
The investigation is continuing, and federal charges could be filed if it is determined the cigarettes were smuggled into the United States with the intent to defraud the government.
It is difficult to identify counterfeit cigarettes from the real product, but they generally have inferior packaging, sometimes contain misspelled words, and the tobacco in the cigarettes oftentimes contain unsafe byproducts.
Buyers of counterfeit goods would often not know that they were buying inferior products. Counterfeit tobacco and Viagra poses many unique and unknown health risks, as the production of the product is unsupervised by health authorities and has been found in very unhealthy and unsanitary environments.
“We hope to increase global awareness of the negative impact of organized intellectual property crimes," said Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. "Counterfeiting and piracy impact public safety by funding organized crime, street gangs, and even terrorism through the sales of these counterfeit products. Criminals engaged in counterfeiting products cost society billions of dollars in lost government revenues, foreign investments and local business profits."
Partner to prevent or report crime by contacting your local Sheriff’s station. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website
The mission of the Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Bureau is to provide a holistic approach to problem oriented policing by developing, maintaining, and coordinating a multitude of operational assets to proactively reduce violent crime and enhance the quality of life for residents throughout the unincorporated regions of Los Angeles County. COPS Bureau is the headquarters unit which oversees the station COPS Deputies, the High Impact Teams (HIT), the Crime Impact Teams (CIT), the Community Development Commission Unit (CDC), the Vital Intervention & Directional Alternatives Program (VIDA) and the Parking Enforcement Detail (PED).
Detective Thomas Ferguson
Lieutenant John Voza
Community Oriented Policing Services Bureau
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
www.COPS.lasd.org
(323) 981-5300
(323) 371-7096
Forwarded by:
Captain Mike Parker
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau - Newsroom
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
323-267-4800
http://www.lasd.org
[email protected]
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Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
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