Couple prosecuted for counterfeiting 20 tons of coffee from soybean powder and additives
Dak Lak Province Police have just prosecuted a couple who used soy powder and additives to produce 20 tons of fake coffee to release to the market.
On June 7, Dak Lak Provincial Police said that they had just prosecuted a couple to investigate the act of "producing and trading counterfeit goods" in the form of powdered coffee.
Among them, Phan Danh Duong Bao (52 years old, residing in Ninh Xuan commune, Ninh Hoa town, Khanh Hoa province) was prosecuted and temporarily detained. Bao's wife, Ho Thuy Bich Dan (47 years old), was prosecuted and banned from leaving her place of residence.
Initial investigation results, at about 2:20 p.m. on May 25, the working group of the Economic Police Department of Dak Lak Province Police discovered Bao and his son delivering 120 kg of ground coffee in 120 silver plastic bags without labels to a woman in Thanh Cong Ward (Buon Ma Thuot City).
At the time of inspection, Bao could not present invoices or documents proving the origin of the above coffee.
Immediately after that, the police summoned the relevant subjects to work. At the same time, they conducted an urgent search of Bao's production site in Khanh Hoa province.
During the search, the police seized many machines and vehicles used for roasting, grinding, and packaging ground coffee.
In addition, there are 2 tons of raw materials including: soybeans, sugar, colorants, flavorings and 1,604 bags of various types of ground coffee with a total weight of nearly 1 ton.
After being arrested, Bao and his wife confessed to buying the above machines and materials to produce fake ground coffee.
Bao and his wife only use 3 to 9 kg of coffee beans, the rest are soybeans, color and flavor additives, roasted and ground... to produce 100 kg of fake coffee powder.
From 2024 to now, Bao and his wife have produced more than 20 tons of fake coffee powder and sold it to many provinces such as Binh Dinh, Lam Dong and Dak Lak.
According to the police, the formula for producing fake ground coffee is mainly burnt roasted soybeans, marinated with color and flavoring additives that can irritate the digestive tract, be toxic to the liver and kidneys, and increase the risk of cancer if used long term.
