On May 3, Thanh Hoa Police announced the dismantling of a production and trading line specializing in counterfeit goods including laundry detergents and dishwashing liquids labeled as Thai brands.
The Investigation Police Agency of Nghi Son Town, Thanh Hoa Province, has completed the case file and proposed the prosecution of 10 suspects in the “Production, Trading of Counterfeit Goods” crime ring: Tran Van Son (born in 1999), Tran Van Tinh (born in 1997), Tran Van Tha (born in 1975), all residing in Như Thanh District; Le Van Son (born in 1993), Nguyen Quoc Dung (born in 2001), both residing in Nghi Son Town; Le Sy Thai (born in 1976, residing in Dong Son District); Le Gia Xuan (born in 2000), Nguyen Van Chien (born in 2001), both residing in Trieu Son District; Pham Thi Thu Huong (born in 1991, residing in Ho Chi Minh City), and Le Ba Minh (born in 1984, residing in Ha Trung District).
According to the investigation and verification results, Tran Van Son is the ringleader of the production and trading line of counterfeit laundry detergents and dishwashing liquids labeled as Thai brands. Exploiting the consumer demand for “preferring” foreign goods, especially Thai goods, Tran Van Son persuaded his cousin Tran Van Tinh, Nguyen Van Chien, and several others he hired to assemble machinery and equipment, completing the production model.
Tran Van Son and the seized counterfeit laundry detergents and dishwashing liquids – Photo: Thanh Hoa Police
To produce counterfeit goods, at the end of February 2022, Tran Van Son rented a factory at Lot 5, Dinh Huong Tay Bac Ga Industrial Zone, Dong Tho Ward, Thanh Hoa City. He then ordered various types of machinery and equipment, such as storage tanks, plastic barrels, pumps, electric motors, mixing devices, etc.
Around April 2022, after completing the production model, Tran Van Son began purchasing chemicals, fragrances, additives, cans, plastic bottles, labels, and cardboard boxes to experiment with making bleach, laundry detergents, and dishwashing liquids.
After successful testing, Son and his accomplices started producing counterfeit Thai-labeled laundry detergents “D-nee”, “Fineline”, “Hi Class”, dishwashing liquids labeled “LIPON”, and bleach labeled “OKAY” to sell to customers.
Confiscation of over 1 ton of Chemicals Used to Produce Counterfeit Goods
During the search, the police force seized over 10,000 cans and bottles of various types of counterfeit laundry detergents and dishwashing liquids; over 1 ton of labels, shells, and covers; over 10 sets of packaging machines; and nearly 1 ton of chemicals used to produce counterfeit goods from the production workshop and Tran Van Son’s distribution outlets.
At the police station, the 10 mentioned suspects confessed to the acts of producing and trading counterfeit laundry detergents and dishwashing liquids labeled as Thai brands, which were sold on the market at low prices, generating tens of billions of VND in illegal profits.
In 2021, the Hanoi Market Management Department, in coordination with the Economic Security Department (Hanoi City Police), also caught a facility producing laundry detergents, dishwashing liquids, and essential oils with signs of trademark counterfeiting, including the Dnee brand from Thailand.
Equipment used to produce and package counterfeit Thai goods confiscated at the scene – Photo: Hanoi Market Management Department
At the production facility located in Phu Luong Ward, Ha Dong District, functional forces seized thousands of 3.5-liter cans of laundry detergent bearing various brands. Along with that were hundreds of boxes of finished products and many plastic cans, labels, and cardboard boxes used for packaging finished products.
Additionally, the interdisciplinary force also seized many raw materials and chemicals used in the production process.
Confessing to the functional forces, the owner of the production facility stated that the workshop had 11 workers working in two shifts. Each day, the facility produced 50 boxes, each containing four cans.
Following this incident, Thanh Hoa Police Agency also advised consumers to choose branded products and purchase laundry detergents and dishwashing liquids from reputable locations. When using the products, if laundry detergents or dishwashing liquids have different smells or colors, they should be discarded immediately, and people should not use them further, as these detergents may be harmful to their health.
