How can packaging combat organised crime?

Part of PIPCU’s role is to protect the public from the impact of these criminals while also educating businesses on how they can help.

Counterfeiting is big business

“For me, the key is to defund these criminals,” Masterson explains. “The value of confiscated forfeiture sits at around £400,000 this year. That’s £400,000 in assets that we’ve taken out of the pockets of criminals. We’ve also seen around £6 million in counterfeit goods seized from the streets, so they can’t be sold to unsuspecting members of the public.

“However, we aren’t a silver bullet to this global problem. That’s why our mission is to educate the public and build a network with businesses, so that by combating this together, we can solve the problem together. It won’t be solved by the police turning up and arresting people – that’s a very outdated view of this complex area.”

Masterson explains that there are many direct and indirect victims of the counterfeit trade – in many cases, these victims are slaves forcefully detained in appalling conditions and made to manufacture cheap fakes. There is an obvious moral case for brands to do what they can to combat this but, as Masterson argues, the business case is just as obvious.
“The damage to the industry isn’t just the loss of sales, it’s the loss of brand protection and faith in the industry. If a consumer buys a fake product that then breaks, they’re not necessarily going to realise they bought a cheap counterfeit. They’re going to blame the brand. We’ve seen businesses suffer and even fold as a result of this reputational damage.”

And, just as the legitimate packaging industry is evolving and innovating faster than ever, so too is the counterfeiting industry. “Packaging can be used by criminals to circumvent legitimate processes, like customs checks. Companies are very good at informing the Border Force about how to protect their products. But we saw a case last year where counterfeit boxes were used to bring fake Apple products into the country.

“We went into a shop where we had learned counterfeit products were being sold, but when we checked the shop, we couldn’t find them. The fake stock wasn’t on view. On further investigation, we found that they were using custom counterfeit boxes that had been made a millimetre bigger than the genuine packaging, so they could fit the fake Apple products inside.

“When these packs went through Border Force, they looked like unbranded third-party products. The criminals could then unbox the products and sell the fakes as if they were genuine for 10-20% less than the market value of the genuine Apple product. They’re making money on the products, and on the packaging – it’s a business for them.”