Investigators seized thousands of counterfeit cigars.
Jump to full article: Birmingham (AL) News, 2009-07-28
Author: Posted by Carol Robinson -- Birmingham News
Intro: Investigators seized thousands of counterfeit cigars, many labeled as Swisher Sweets.
Jefferson County sheriff's deputies say they have busted a cigar-counterfeiting ring that flooded the Southeast with look-alike cigars.
The ring, operated by men in Homewood and McCalla, imported hundreds of thousands of cheap and uninspected counterfeit cigars from China and India, repackaged them and distributed them across the region as if they were name brands.
The national and international implications from the criminal enterprise may lead to more charges in many other jurisdictions, authorities said Monday.
"It is hard to imagine the amount of money that has been lost, and just how far-reaching this illegal operation truly is," said Sheriff Mike Hale. . . .
Sheriff's investigators worked with tobacco giants Swisher International and John Middleton Company in the four-month long probe.
Jegil Wilissac Dugger, 30, of McCalla and Faisal Hassan Elnaham, 32, of Homewood are charged with multiple counts of theft of trademark. Bond for both was set at $600,000.
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