Department of Economic Development -Dubai inspectors confiscated duplicate electrical tools and mobile phone accessories worth Dh7 million.
In the raid last week, DED inspectors confiscated duplicate electrical tools and mobile phone accessories.
Ibrahim Behzad, Director of Intellectual Property Protection Section at the Commercial Compliance and the Consumer Protection Division, said the four warehouses are located in Al Qusais industrial area and the old Bazaar in Deira.
The two apartments were discovered by a mystery shopper, who entered the two flats posing as a trader seeking to strike a deal for importing fake goods.
The visit of the mystery shopper, who kept in touch with the DED inspectors, was followed by a raid at the two flats. The trader in charge of the illegal business was booked for practising trade activity without having a licence and for infringing intellectual property rights of trade brands, promoting fake goods and practising trade fraud.
“The duplicate goods include mobile phone accessories such as batteries, headsets and chargers of well-known brands such as Apple, Nokia and Samsung, as well as thousands of fake electrical equipment of prestigious brands like Philips and Braun,” Behzad noted.
He said the “eagle-eyed teams” of the DED keep an eye 24/7 over the markets to purge them of fake and imitation products.
“Some shops might sell fake goods as genuine and at the same price of the genuine ones,” he said.
Duplicate products, he warned, pose a threat to human lives, particularly mobile phone accessories. Behzad urged consumers to desist contacting or responding to hawkers in markets. In case they are duped, he advised, consumers should immediately call the DED.
Adil Al Majid, Director of Intellectual Property Protection Unit at the DED, said the fake goods recovered in the raid were being sold in a secret way — after being delivered to distributors and importers with the intent of being re-exported from Dubai to other countries.
Earlier last month, half-a-million fake goods worth Dh4.65 million were seized by the authorities, as reported by Khaleej Times on February 21.
