Saxat ur American Bee Journal....
Federal Seizure of 10,560 Gallons
of Counterfeit Honey From
Warehouse in NE Salem, Oregon
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
District of Oregon News Release
192 Fifty-Five Gallon Drums of Counterfeit Honey Seized in NE Salem Allegedly Falsely and Fraudulently Identified as “Thai Honey”
PORTLAND, Ore. – On March 11, 2011 the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Dwight C. Holton, announced the seizure of approximately 192 fifty-five gallon drums (10,560 gallons) of counterfeit honey from a warehouse in N.E. Salem, Oregon. This seizure is part of an ongoing joint investigation conducted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Oregon, the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago, Illinois, and United States Homeland Security Investigations.
A company called Eastern Commodity Company allegedly imported the counterfeit honey, namely compound malt sweetener, from Hong Kong in October 2009, then shipped the merchandise to a warehouse in Wisconsin. According to the affidavit, (attached) the warehouse received a series of emails directing it to remove Chinese inspection stickers from the drums, apparently to conceal their Chinese origin. The affidavit alleges that the drums were eventually shipped to two different honey packers in the Midwest, along with paperwork falsely describing the compound malt sweetener as honey from Thailand. The honey packers rejected the drums, which were then eventually shipped to a warehouse in Salem, Oregon.