Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Inspection teams from the Ministry of Commerce and police arrested two foreign nationals after seizing huge quantities of counterfeit detergents and low-quality masks. The seized items include more than 2,000,000 packages of adulterated detergents and 4,430,000 masks.

The ministry had closed the warehouse, which was run by a Syrian and an Egyptian national for stocking their counterfeit products.

The illegals, who were arrested in a joint security campaign, were referred to the concerned security authorities to take punitive measures against them in accordance with the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law and the Anti-Cover-up Law.

The gang was arrested at the end of follow-up and monitoring, which lasted for more than one and half months, by the inspection teams and that was in coordination and cooperation with the Riyadh region police.

The foreigners used illegal workers to run the fraudulent operations and filling of substandard detergents in packages bearing names of well-known brands to deceive and mislead consumers.

During the operation, which began at 1 p.m. and continued until 3 a.m. the next day, more than 2,000,000 packages of adulterated detergents, and cartons and labels bearing counterfeit trademarks were seized and confiscated.

The detergents had been prepared for the purpose of selling the fake products in the local market. Apart from 4,430,000 masks that were ready for sale, the seized items also included mask threads, clothe rolls, and mask refills prepared for packing and that were not carrying the name of the country of origin.

The inspection teams also seized machines and tools used in the illegal activities.