A Chinese national was arrested and charged after $10 million worth of counterfeit items were seized at a store in Montego Bay, St James, on Wednesday.
He is 37-year-old Yaungsen Li, who was arrested and charged for unlawful use of trademark.
Yaungsen, who is the manager of Beauty Queen Haberdashery on St James Street in Montego Bay, is to appear in the St James Parish Court on January 24.
Yesterday, head of the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime (C-TOC) Investigation Branch, Assistant Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, told reporters about the seizure at a press briefing at his Orange Street offices in downtown Kingston.
ACP Bailey said 733 pairs of Converse sneakers, 240 pairs of Nike slippers, 372 pairs of Nike sneakers, 76 pairs of Adidas slippers, six Louis Vuitton travel bags, three Gucci travel bags, two Puma hats, five Adidas hats, 18 Nike hats, 11 Jordan hats, and 15 Gucci purses were seized.
The police also seized 18 lead sheets along with five computers and six cellphones during a raid at Fairfield Estate in the parish.
No one was arrested in connection with that raid.
Bailey, while noting that C-TOC will continue to fulfil its mandate, said the division is committed to entering 2018 with renewed energy and effort on the heels of its recent successful operations.
Earlier this month, C-TOC arrested 27 individuals of a 40-member gang, including the alleged leader 27-year-old Uchence Wilson, who is otherwise known as Terrence.
The gang is blamed for at least eight murders and numerous rapes, including that of a 12-year-old girl.
On Tuesday, C-TOC disclosed during a press briefing that 25 of the 27 alleged gangsters who were arrested have been charged and were expected to appear in the Home Circuit Court the following day.
Twenty-two of the 25 individuals, including two police officers, were charged under the anti-gang legislation.
On Wednesday, only 20 of the individuals appeared in court. A January 10 mention date was subsequently set for the attorneys representing the accused gangsters to make bail applications.
“A motivated staff is important, leadership is important, partnership is also a critical component in what we do… the staff is highly motivated. We continue to do things to motivate our staff for them to feel a sense of belonging,” Bailey said, adding that that this is the drive behind the division’s successful operations.
“It is not just doing a 8:00 am to 5:00 pm [job], these officers have gone the extra mile [and] hours at the expense of sacrificing time with their families, their children, they have gone the extra mile in their quest to serve the nation,” Bailey said, adding that if the police improve on the services they offer they will achieve their goals.
Even though the one-week sick-out by rank-and-file officers did not affect the operations of the branch, Bailey said salary is a part of motivation and the police deserve to be paid more.
“I have had occasions where constables came to me when I was divisional commander, and even at an area level, and said, ‘Sir, I don’t want to be absent from work, but I cannot come to work because I don’t have the fare; I don’t have the means of coming. Whatever I have at home is just adequate food to take care of the family, so if I was to come to work I cannot afford to provide a meal for myself,’ and these are some harsh realities that we have to face. And, as a commander, really, these are some of the things you have to contend with,” Bailey said.
Any Chinese ever get Deported from Jamaica for all those crimes?
So representatives for Nike, Adidas, louis Vuitton, puma and Gucci will be coming to Jamaica to testify against this man. I would plea not guilty and see what happens next. I remember when the Police use to lock up the men that sell DVDs for breach of the copy right act and a Judge asked the Police how they plan to prove their case is they planning to bring the persons who created the movies.
Crazy.