Interpol confiscates 6000 counterfeit products

By Kiiza Lucy Edith and David Lumu

COUNTERFEIT

KAMPALA - In a swoop around city center shops, the Interpol this week on Monday confiscated over 6000 counterfeit products and arrested a number of suspects.

According to the director of Interpol in Uganda, Benson Oyo Nyeko, the counterfeit products are mainly manufactured in China and ferried into Uganda by a well-connected chain of cybercriminals through the Mombasa port terminal.

The confiscated products were on Thursday paraded by Police at Interpol offices in Kampala during a press conference organized by police and the Anti Counterfeit Network.

Nyeko said the products were branded as SvenskaKullagerfabriken (SKF), a Swedish company dealing in bearings, seals and lubrication systems.

Police officers showcasing some of the raided counterfeits goods at Interpol headquarters in Kololo, Kampala

 
Speaking to the press at Interpol offices, the brand protection manager of SKF Petter Ronnborg, said: "SKF uses the right quantity and materials to produce the best products and that is why SKF is here to fight those people who manufacture fake products and pass them on as SkF."

He also emphasized that SKF products have gained a reputation of good products and that is why it has come out to fight the vice of counterfeit.

Nyeko said the suspects will be charged with tampering with the SKF brand and other counterfeit-related offences, including infringing on the copyrights of SKF.

The director of legal and cooperate affairs of Anti-Counterfeit Network, Fred Muwema said over 70% of products in Uganda are counterfeits, a trend that has exposed the public to risks such as cancer.

"The fakes are killing us. We are now at a crisis level and we need to address this big problem. The prevalence of counterfeits is now at 70% in Uganda," he said.