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Originally Posted by captain53
I found this information on the Altadis Web Site regarding counterfeit cigars:
Industry experts estimate the cigar counterfeiting problem involves the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of fake and inferior products annually to unsuspecting consumers.
According to attorneys for Altadis, more and more warehouses and backrooms of tobacco retailers in South Florida have become home to tobacco counterfeiters.
The cigar counterfeiting industry has a number of levels. There are the printers of the fake cigar bands and labels that mimic the logo of well-known brands. There are individuals who sell the fake bands, labels and cigar boxes to cigar makers. And then there are cigar makers who market the bogus product. In some cases, there are financiers.
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Yes, but these counterfeits are of Cuban cigars, not non-Cuban cigars. Altadis just has the advantage of owning the rights to those brand names in teh United States. Kind of like General Cigar winning court cases over Feauxhiba production, even though they weren't mimicking General's Cohiba.