Authorities in China have raided a factory with 33,000 fake automobile safety parts– including phony air bag and brake parts– that were predestined to be offered in Australia.
In a case similar to tracing drugs back to their “Mr Big” source, authorities eventually identified the producer following a Federal Court case against distributors of dodgy automobile parts in Sydney and Melbourne.
In 2015, Toyota acted against independent distributors who were selling counterfeit airbag spiral cables (which trigger the airbag during a crash) and brake pads consisting of asbestos, among dozens of other fake car parts.
Unlike “non-genuine” parts, which are significant, the counterfeit automobile parts purported to be the genuine product and featured what seemed Toyota product packaging and part numbers.
After anonymously purchasing a batch of phony parts from an independent distributor, internal screening by Toyota discovered the products did not operate correctly or contained banned materials.
Following a tip-off from Toyota Australia to overseas authorities, the discovery led Chinese police to 33,000 counterfeit parts and 55,000 fake Toyota boxes all set for delivery.
It is noted that there are over 80 various parts– to suit popular cars such as the Toyota Yaris, Corolla, RAV4, HiLux and Hiace– were recognized throughout the raid.
