Speaking at a press conference, John, a senior trading standards officer,
warned travellers to be careful when bringing back goods from abroad because
they could be fake.
The press call followed a recent sting when a large number of counterfeit
DVDs were seized from travellers arriving at the city airport on a number of
separate flights. The subsequent arrests were the culmination of months of
surveillance by trading standards professionals working in tandem with the
police, customs and groups representing the creative industries.
The hauls were recovered from holidaymakers returning from the Thailand via
Amsterdam and Turkey. The tourists were being used as couriers for criminal
gangs or were seeking to help pay for their holidays by selling the goods.
Pirates and bootleggers cheat consumers and place a drain on our economy.
Trading standards is determined to tackle this type of criminal activity
through an organised and co-ordinated approach. We are delighted that we
have achieved such a satisfactory outcome in this particular case. But the
fight goes on through constant vigilance, sharing intelligence with other
groups, training our officers in detection and monitoring progress.
