Crime, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

The criminal gang had planned to sell the coffee in the EU market.

The Customs Police found 21 palettes with coffee that had Nescafe Gold Blend labels on in the warehouse. There were also 1,260 Nescafe Gold Blend jars of 500 grams, and 6,048 jars of 750 grams. A coffee processing plant in Riga has been identified as the consigner, and a Lithuanian company as a consignee.

An adminsitrative case has been launched on suspicion of illegal use of brand labels. The goods were confiscated.

Inspecting the coffee processing plant in Riga, the Customs Police found cardboard plates with Nestle and Nescafe labels, sealed coffee jars without labels, and equipment for processing and packaging coffee. An administrative case has also been launched against this company.

Samples of confiscated goods have been sent to the authorized representative of Nestle and Nescafe brands. It turned out that these had been counterfeit goods and packaging. According to Nestle and Nescafe representatives, the pecuniary damage to Societe Des Produits Nestle S.A. amounts to more than EUR 534,000, while non-pecuniary damage has not been estimated yet.

The Customs Police has launched a criminal procedure that will be sent over to the State Police for further investigation.