P31.4M worth of fake external storage devices confiscated in Manila

Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation - National Capital Region confiscated P31.4 million worth of external storage devices in Manila.

The raid was conducted on Monday by NBI-NCR operatives at two warehouses in Binondo San Miguel, according to a report by John Consulta on 24 Oras Weekend on Saturday.

The operatives conducted the raid after the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 28 issued a search warrant following a complaint for trademark infringement filed by the legitimate manufacturer of such items against the owners of the warehouses.

Confiscated during the raid were hard drives, flash drives, and SD cards.

The items had the same look and packaging as the original items.

"Nag-conduct ng surveillance at test-buy ang ating mga operatiba. At matapos na makabili ay pinakita po ito sa ating complainant who immediately issued a certification that it's actually a fake hard drive but using their trademark," NBI spokesperson and head agent Palmer Mallari said.

(Our operatives conducted surveillance and test-buy. After they were able to buy, they showed the items to our complainant who immediately issued a certification that it's actually a fake hard drive but using their trademark.)

Mallari said consumers who unknowingly buy the fake items stand to lose as they are not assured of their quality.

"You're not able to consume and make use of the full capacity and memory of the hard drive. Apart from that, dahil nga hindi tayo nakakasiguro kung anong piyesa ang ginamit dito, meron pong tendency na malamang masisira ang mga files na ating sine-save. Mako-corrupt," he said.

(Apart from that, because we are not sure what parts were used to manufacture it, there is a tendency that the files saved on the hard drive will be corrupted.)

No one however was arrested during the raid.

The fake items will be destroyed once the court issues the order to do so. —KG, GMA Integrated News