JC Newman

November 09, 2011

Counterfeit Cohiba cigars seized in Key West


Richmond, VA—General Cigar announces that federal and Florida state law enforcement officials yesterday seized more than 3,000 counterfeit COHIBA® cigars from seven tobacco retail stores located in prime tourist areas of Key West, Florida.


Individual cigars were sold at approximately $20 apiece. Based on current estimates, the approximate street value of goods seized was more than $60,000.


The counterfeit cigar seizures followed a lengthy investigation conducted in cooperation with General Cigar Company, which is the exclusive owner of the COHIBA trademark in the U.S. The lead law enforcement agency for yesterday’s seizures was the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, assisted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Florida Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco Bureau of Law Enforcement, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.


Dan Carr, president of General Cigar said, “The seizure of counterfeit COHIBA cigars yesterday represents a clear victory in General Cigar’s fight to protect our cigar bands from counterfeiters and trademark infringers. We look forward to continuing to cooperate with federal and state law enforcement officials in Florida and have offered to assist in any prosecutions and future investigations.”



About General Cigar

General Cigar Co. Inc., a division of Scandinavian Tobacco Group, manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Committed to delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar’s skilled artisans produce Macanudo®, COHIBA, La Gloria Cubana®, CAO, Partagas®, Punch®, Hoyo de Monterrey®, Excalibur® and several other leading premium brands in the company’s Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan factories.



In addition, the company cultivates proprietary tobacco which is used exclusively in its blends. General Cigar also operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar in New York City. Based in Richmond, VA, General Cigar sells through tobacconists nationwide and also exports select products to 62 countries. For more information, please visit www.cigarworld.com.



® COHIBA, Macanudo, La Gloria Cubana, Partagas, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co. Inc.                                                                         

5 comments:

Tony said...

Great story. Reminds me of a prior job I worked at. We used to go out for an hour on Friday afternoons to smoke cigars (because the cigarette smokers got multiple breaks during the week).

Our Florida plant sent us some Cohiba Esplendidos and RyJ Churchills in a Cohiba glass-topped box.

(I didn't have the heart to tell my boss :))

Tim Rollins said...

Most common fakes out there! The old glass top Cohibas! Wow!

Online Cigar Store said...

Our Florida plant sent us some Cohiba Esplendidos and RyJ Churchills in a Cohiba glass-topped box.

Tim Rollins said...

Those things are everywhere! It's sad that so many people buy them and think they're getting real Cuban cigars.

ElTorjero said...

@online Cigar Store: This does not sound very trustworthy! ;-)

@Tony: Thanks for this one, this is amusing! :-)
smoke on... Humidor (aka ElTorjero)