Miami Man Arrested With Counterfeit Packaging for More Than $1 Million of Cuban Cigars

If you’ve ever wondered what the world of counterfeit cigars in the U.S. looks like, the Miami Dade Police Department has a glimpse into one part of the process.

Yesterday, March 11, Miami Dade police arrested Jorge Gomero, 52, of 10 SW 45th Ave. in Miami on multiple felony charges, some related to stolen goods and others related to counterfeit cigar bands.

Since January, the police have been investigating Gomero and his business, El Baratón, a retail store in Miami that is suspected to operate as a fence. After arresting a different person for theft, that suspect indicated that they sold the stolen goods to Gomero. Police began investigating Gomero—noticing that various individuals would enter El Baratón with bags full of items and leave without them—including performing undercover sells of allegedly stolen goods to Gomero and his wife.

Yesterday, a search warrant was executed at El Baratón, which turned up $28,281.39 of merchandise, including some that was sold to Gomero through undercover sales, as well as 4,499 empty boxes of allegedly counterfeit cigars, that police estimate would have a value of $1,124,750, as well as thousands of labels, ribbons and certificates.

A police report says the packaging is for brands including, “ROMEO AND JULIETTA (sic), H UPMAN (sic), TRINIDAD, MONTE CRISTO (sic), COHIBA, CAO, BOLIVAR, EL REY DEL MUNDO, LA GLORIA CUBANA, MACANUDO, PUNCH, PARTAGAS AND SANCHO PANZA.” Images taken by the police show that the bands and boxes were separated, which the police report says was “consistent with the manufacture of counterfeit cigar boxes.”

While the pictures do not show any of the packaging for non-Cuban brands such as CAO and Macanudo, they do show labels for Cuban brands such as Bolívar, Cohiba, Cohiba BHK, Cuaba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Montecristo, Partagás, Quai d’Orsay, Romeo y Julieta, San Cristóbal de La Habana and Trinidad.

Furthermore, there are secondary bands for Habanos S.A.’s flagship Gran Reserva series as well as secondary bands for other series like Añejados, Edición Limitada and La Casa del Habano. While the boxes for the Cohiba BHK are clearly not authentic, other boxes appear—from a distance—to be close enough to pass for the real thing.

No cigars were seized at El Baratón. A police spokesperson told halfwheel that investigators contacted various cigar companies—Altadis U.S.A. is specifically mentioned—to determine if the bands were legitimate. When they were identified as counterfeit, police tried to determine the retail value of the products these bands would have been affixed to, which is how the $1,124,750 number was calculated.

Gomero’s bond has been set at $22,500.

Images via Miami Dade Police Department