Monday, April 07 2008
Ft. Lauderdale, FL - On Tuesday, March 18, 2008, investigators from the Monroe County, Florida State Attorney's Office, assisted by officers and agents from U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs, the Marathon County, Duval County and Monroe County Sheriffs' Offices, Key West Code Compliance and the Florida Department of Revenue, simultaneously raided seven Key West retail establishments and arrested five individuals who own those establishments as part of a nationwide crackdown on cigar counterfeiting.
The authorities, working in conjunction with Altadis U.S.A., the largest manufacturer and marketer of cigars in the world, seized a substantial number of boxes of counterfeit Montecristo, H. Upmann and Romeo y Julieta cigars, and also counterfeit Cohiba cigars as a result of the cooperation of General Cigar.
"We hope these arrests send a clear message to the cigar industry and the public in general that those engaging in cigar counterfeiting will be arrested, their assets will be seized and they ultimately will be held accountable," said Eric Workman, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Altadis U.S.A. "Altadis U.S.A. is committed to pursuing cigar counterfeiters and infringers of our trademarks, and dedicated to protecting our business and the business of our legitimate authorized retailers."
These raids and arrests are the latest in a series of actions that have taken place in recent months as part of an on-going aggressive effort led by Altadis U.S.A. and state and federal law enforcement officials to put a halt to cigar counterfeiting, which according to industry experts, involves the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of imitation and inferior product annually.
"We are committed to doing whatever it takes to protect our valuable brand names and trade designs and ensuring that they are associated with the high standards of quality and distribution for which they are known," said Theo Folz, President and CEO of Altadis U.S.A. "We have established a loyal following for our brands and we intend to vigorously defend their integrity. Altadis U.S.A. will continue to pursue legal remedies against all counterfeiters and sellers of counterfeit cigars." £
