Police bust warehouse with 160,000 fake masks and cosmetics
A police raid in Samut Prakan uncovered over 160,000 fake face masks and counterfeit cosmetics being sold online.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) stormed a warehouse in Bang Sao Thong district after tracing it to a major counterfeit products operation. Officers seized fake face masks branded as Welcare, along with fake cosmetic products, including Biore lotions and Cetaphil cleansers.
Police launched the investigation after the real mask manufacturer filed a complaint. Nitidon, a representative of TPCS Co., Ltd., the company behind the Welcare brand, alerted officers after discovering fake products on several major e-commerce platforms. The items were being sold without certification or approval from the company.
To catch the sellers, investigators worked with the company and made test purchases from four suspicious online shops. Every item delivered turned out to be fake. The packaging copied the real products with alarming accuracy. The size and font, as well as the box design, were almost indistinguishable, making them hard to spot as counterfeits.
Investigators followed shipping details and masked seller information, which led them to a single-storey warehouse in Sisa Chorakhe Noi, Bang Sao Thong. After collecting enough evidence, police secured a search warrant and raided the building.
Inside the warehouse, police found a massive stash of counterfeit goods:
- 156,510 fake Welcare face masks
- 5,240 counterfeit Welcare mask boxes
- 52 fake Biore lotions
- 45 fake Cetaphil cleansers
The total number of seized counterfeit items was 161,847.
More importantly, TPCS Co., Ltd. confirmed that the counterfeit Welcare masks were not made according to proper safety standards. The company warned that the masks could not effectively block bacteria or viruses.
Police have handed over the seized items to investigators and are now working to track down everyone involved in the operation. Offenders will face charges under the Trademark Act B.E. 2534 (1991) for possessing goods that copy someone else’s trademark.
In a similar case, a clandestine cosmetics manufacturing factory in Chachoengsao province was dismantled after police discovered unlicensed production activities.
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