Fake Toyota parts worth Dh10.5 million seized in UAE counterfeit clampdown

Counterfeit oil filters most common as officials warn of the dangers

Some of the fake Toyota oil caps seized by authorities. Courtesy Al Futtaim Toyota

Authorities seized more than 300,000 counterfeit Toyota parts worth Dh10.5 million across the UAE in 2020.

About 160,000 fake oil filters were among the spare parts confiscated.

Inspectors conducted 21 raids and confiscated filters, spark plugs and other items disguised as genuine parts.

The campaign included checks at markets in all seven emirates and officials issued Dh310,000 in fines.

Al Futtaim Toyota conducted the sweeps along with UAE government authorities.

The company also held 10 training programmes for government officials and field inspectors to bolster the fight against counterfeit parts.

Buying fake goods may seem harmless but it can endanger road users, damage vehicles and cause fatal road accidents, while also supporting criminality.

Authorities in the UAE have been cracking down on the counterfeit trade – including in places such as Dubai's Karama – over the past few years.

Officials at an Interpol crime conference in Dubai in 2018 heard cheap, fake car parts – including brake pads made from compressed grass – are putting UAE drivers at serious risk.

It also heard how the global trade in fake goods was now worth a staggering US$461 billion a year.

Authorities said enhanced levels of sophistication were making counterfeits much harder to spot.

But checks are now being ramped up to end the practice by dismantling the supply chains and criminal networks that illegally profit from the market.

In 2018, Interpol in a matter of months seized 7.2m counterfeit and illicit items.

The Toyota clampdown is part of the multipronged attack.