Police intercept counterfeit purified still water syndicate at Ndirande

Police in Ndirande have arrested Dickinson Mike 23, Timothy Benson 41 and Khumbo 32, for production of counterfeit purified still water.

This follows a complaint which was lodged by the Manager of a certain company which produces purified still water in Blantyre, that some unscrupulous traders are selling products that resemble theirs, detectives from the station quickly instituted investigations into the matter.

The investigations led to the arrest of Dickson Mike who was found with counterfeit bottled water seals and caps bearing the company’s trademarks.

The revelation came about on January 29, 2022, when Sam Memena, a Ndirande based businessman was supplied with 35 cases of purified still water by Dickson Mike, which when customers consume had a bad taste and also contained foreign properties inside.

In course of investigations, Malawi Bureau of Standards officials were involved who upon conducting their tests confirmed that the products were indeed counterfeit.

A search at the suspect’s house in mbayani exposed 250 empty bottles and 500 bottle caps with the company’s labels.

After being interrogated, the suspect revealed that the syndicate also involved two employees from the concerned company.

The two have been identified as Mr khumbo and Timothy Benson who works as Supervisor and Driver respectively who used to steal the mentioned production materials from the concerned company factory and sell them to the first suspect to be used in the fraudulent purified still water production.

All three suspect will appear before court soon to answer charges of ( i ) Sale of Noxious food or drink contrary to section 194 and Counterfeiting Trademarks section 388 of the penal code.

Khumbo 32, hails from Kandulu village in the area of Traditional Authority Chikumbu in Mulanje District while Timothy Benson 41, comes from Mkoka village, Traditional Authority Nsomba in Blantyre District.