Three Chinese were arrested on Thursday after they were allegedly found with fake products worth millions of shillings.
Emily Peng, Lee Liang and Josh Xhiu were arrested at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre by officials from the Anti-Counterfeit Agency who were tipped off by exhibitors at the Oil & Gas International Trade Exhibition.
Lawrence Milewa from ACA’s enforcement department told journalists that the three were nabbed with flat twin and earth cables, single core insulated cables, flat TPS cables and flexible PVC insulated sheath cables.
The three also had house electrical wire and cables, single core cables, multicore cables and speaker cables.
[caption caption="Fake goods that were destroyed by the state"]
[/caption]
The products were branded to look like they were from the East African Cables and officials from ACA established they were illicit goods since they lacked documents to indicate they have been paying taxes.
“The three Chinese traders are from Jiaxing Zhongyi Cable and Wire Company Ltd. They are here exhibiting fake cables that they allege are from the East African Cables,” Milewa stated.
Milewa warned that a crackdown aimed at eradicating the market for illicit trade and ensuring fair competition will continue in conjunction with the police.
“Importation, exportation and trade in illegal goods is unacceptable," the ACA official stated.
"The public must avoid handling illicit goods of any nature and should report those who are involved in trade malpractices to the relevant agencies,” the official added.
[caption caption="Fake goods in a storage facility"]
[/caption]
Meanwhile, three top managers at the Kenya Bureau of Standards were grilled by police over rising of contraband goods in the country.
Kebs Managing Director Charles Ongwae was summoned to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters together with his two directors and questioned for almost five hours.
