Watched by Benja Louichareon, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Customs, Phuket Governor Maitree Intusut and other officials, the roller lurched over the top of shoes, glasses, bags, shirts, CDs, DVDs and other brand copies seized in 44 completed cases. The “street” value of the items was put at around B29 million.
Mrs Benja said, “ This destruction shows that we support the copyright of the brand owners and that we we have strict rules about suppressing illegal products.”
Mrs Benja and Gov Maitree joined in with a token smashing of items with a couple of ribbon-wrapped hammers. With a twinkle in his eye, the Governor looked at his hammer closely and said, “This isn’t a copy, is it?”
All the flattened items will be consigned to the incinerator at Koh Phi.