Chinese men arrested as part UAE police sting to crack Dh280m fake goods operation

Two men alleged to have been involved in making and selling fake HP printers.

Powered by automated translation

AJMAN // Two Chinese men have been arrested in a police sting action to crack a Dh280 million counterfeit goods operation.

The men are accused of making and selling fake Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers and accessories, said Brigadier Sheikh Sultan bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi from Ajman Police.

“We were notified by the company’s lawyer that there were fake products being distributed on the market,” he said.

“The lawyer had purchased some of the products and after comparing them with the original they were found to be lacking.”

Brig Sheikh Sultan said police launched an investigation to find the source of the products and discovered two warehouses in industrial areas and a villa where they were being made in Ajman as well as another warehouse in Dubai.

All the locations were registered under a carpet trading company.

After watching all of the premises and observing lorries loaded with fake goods come and go, officers raided the warehouses and villa in Ajman and arrested the two Chinese men.

Police also seized a large amount of fake goods as well as tools used to manufacture them.

“The punishment for dealing in counterfeit products is prison of one year or a fine of Dh5,000 to Dh10,000,” said Brig Sheikh Sultan.

“But in a big case like this we expect the judges can find a suitable bigger punishment.”

Abdulrahman Al Fardan, HP’s company lawyer, said some of the fake products had been sold but expected the authorities to seize them in due course.

He said the two suspects had only been making fake goods for a few months. They have been referred to prosecutors.

ykakande@thenational.ae