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Heavy Luxury: How flight cancellations in the UAE affected the smuggling of luxury goods
Abu Dhabi and Dubai have for years been considered Russia's main sources of jewelry, premium watches, and other luxury goods. However, due to restrictions on flights from Russia to the UAE (extended until April 17 by the decision of the Ministry of Transport), criminal activity is observed in other regions. What is happening to the market of illegal supplies of wealth attributes to Russia and how illegal traffic is changing is in the Izvestia article.
The "Green Corridor" for Cartier
A criminal case has been opened at Sheremetyevo customs on the fact of smuggling strategically important goods. The violator turned out to be a 50-year-old man who arrived on a flight from Beijing. The passenger proceeded through the "green corridor", stating that there were no goods subject to mandatory declaration, but the inspectors of selective control stopped him for inspection.
With the help of a metal detector, expensive jewelry was found in the pocket of the traveler's jacket, which he tried to hide. The undeclared valuables included three Messika rings, two pendants and five Van Cleef bracelets. & Arpels, a Pasquale Bruni ring from the Petit Garden collection, as well as a TAG Heuer watch, which the passenger removed from his hand immediately before the inspection, the customs said.
Upon further investigation of the hand luggage in the suitcase, customs officers found a Bvlgari Serpenti Viper bracelet and a Cartier Juste un Clou ring. The examination confirmed the authenticity of the products: the jewelry is made of 750 gold inlaid with diamonds and mother-of-pearl, the watches are of Swiss origin. The total value of the seized was 3.5 million rubles.
This is not the first seizure of luxury contraband from Russians and foreigners returning from China.
The detainee himself, in an interview with the operatives, explained that he was transporting jewelry at the request of a friend. He now faces up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 1 million rubles under Part 1 of Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code (smuggling of strategically important goods).
"There are more and more offers for the delivery of expensive jewelry products in China," a source in the law enforcement system told Izvestia. — However, the discerning consumer has always preferred to order a luxury in the Emirates. After all, China is most often associated with high-quality forgery. The powerful from Russia are afraid to buy premium jewelry in Chinese stores, and especially watches," says a source familiar with the situation. Izvestia.
Turkey remains the main destination through which jewelry is intensively imported into the country. In mid-March, customs officers seized bracelets encrusted with 121 diamonds with a total weight of 25.41 carats and rings with 10 diamonds weighing 6.56 carats from two Russian women. The examination estimated the "body kit" at almost 6 million rubles. And Sochi colleagues found an undeclared Rolex watch, a Cartier ring and earrings worth about 7 million rubles from a Russian woman returning from Istanbul.
Carrying technique
According to a source familiar with the "cuisine" of luxury goods supplies to Russia, previously flights from Dubai, where the largest boutiques of luxury brands and free economic zones are concentrated, were the main route for the import of luxury jewelry to Russia. However, there have been no new collections in the country for a long time.
— The so-called "buyers" are engaged in this business. A person either goes for a specific product at the request of a person, or buys a photo of a thing to the customer on the spot. This is a serious criminal business and it is associated with corrupt law enforcement officers. They just allow you to pass through the "green corridor".
This kind of manipulation costs from several tens to several hundred thousand rubles per carry.
A more complex and risky scheme is associated with the manipulation of the declaration — in the jargon, "re-sorting".
— In this case, we are talking about exporting some jewelry from the country through a declaration and returning it with modified ones. This scheme is most often used by jewelers who change the carat value of diamonds in jewelry (this is done by professionals). Or it's about a banal substitution.
This kind of business is connected with Russian jewelry stores.
According to him, the riskiest way is to carry it on yourself.
— Here, the probability for the shuttle to be caught is the maximum. As a rule, this is done by flight attendants and other crew members of various companies.
According to him, this segment of violators of the rules of transportation is now focused on household contraband — it carries documents, consumer goods of foreign manufacture, and pharmaceutical preparations on order.
— As a rule, this violates only the internal instructions of the airlines.
Responsibility
— The situation with detention at airports with jewelry for large sums is a classic example of a substitution of concepts, — explains lawyer Ekaterina Krasnova. — The passenger traveling along the "green corridor" actually tried to pass off the commercial shipment as personal items. But from the point of view of the law, its status does not matter: strategically important goods are not subject to free movement by individuals without permits.
Jewelry made of precious metals and stones belongs to the category of goods, the import of which is strictly regulated at the EAEU level. An individual, even if he carries jewelry "at the request of a friend," cannot qualify for an exception.
It is important to understand the procedure: the legal import of such goods is carried out only through specialized (categorized) customs posts and requires a mandatory act of state control from the Assay Chamber. Without this document, which is now being transmitted to the Federal Customs Service through the system of interdepartmental electronic interaction (IMEM), the release of goods is impossible.
Often, the cost of jewelry transported automatically removes the act from the category of an administrative offense into the criminal field. Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (smuggling of strategically important goods) does not require proof of a commercial purpose. The very fact of illegal movement across the border is enough. The sanction is up to five years in prison.
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