who is the end buyer

[Ted]

I’m hearing its some of the big packers!!!

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A federal grand jury has indicted three men for smuggling Chinese honey into the United States.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Jacksonville announced Tuesday that the men are accused of mislabeling the honey as "rice fructose" to avoid more than $1 million in duties owed to the federal government.

The suspects are accused of mislabeling 123 containers, each containing 64 barrels of honey from China. After they passed through customs, the containers were relabeled as "amber honey" for sale to domestic purchasers. The honey was seized from 11 U.S. entry ports.

If convicted, the three men could face up to 20 years in prison.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/3...#ixzz1fZ8dsaIA

[Solomon Parker]

Score one for law and justice.

[jrbbees]

Hold the score card! Wait and see if people with that much money really serve any time at all. They have the money for the lawyers to keep it tied up and inprocess for a long time.

[canoemaker]

What happens to the honey after it is seized?

[The Honey Householder]

The honey goes up in seized item auctions, and it still fines its way to the packers at a cheaper price. So someone put the wrong label on the cantainer, really this is the best our Gov. can do. I don't see that one sticking. In the mean time they are still doing business. Just think of all those container that was missed.

[Ian]

Wow. You know I am getting quite a few new customers buying my honey and coming back for more. They all tell me its the best honey they have ever tasted. Funny thing is there is alot of honey out there exactly like mine.
You know what it is? Its my label. Its local. Local tastes better. Probably becasue they trust how I run my operation and buying from the store has that mystery unknown about it. And that mystery unknown comes from stories like the one that started this thread.

[Michael Palmer]

Wow. They all tell me its the best honey they have ever tasted. Funny thing is there is alot of honey out there exactly like mine.

Yep, just like the guy that told me I had good honey but old man Spooner's was way better.

Guess who sold old man Spooner his honey.

[The Honey Householder]

I know what you mean. All my dealers have a good crop when I do. Local sells, even if it was produced 100+ miles away.

[johng]

About a month ago I had a Customs agent call and ask me how they could get a sample of honey out of the bung hole of a barrel? He told me they needed to test it and only needed a few oz but was having trouble getting a sample out. Wonder if this was some of the honey in question?

[jim lyon]

About a month ago I had a Customs agent call and ask me how they could get a sample of honey out of the bung hole of a barrel? He told me they needed to test it and only needed a few oz but was having trouble getting a sample out.

So it appears the same people that cant figure how to pull a sample out of a drum of honey are the same folks we have entrusted to test the safety and authenticity of the food that we are importing? Why am I not surprised.

[irwin harlton]

that kinda answers that question........ if this has been going on for awhile, 2 years,and the culprits,buyers, have been known ,more than suspected. how come it took so long to get the goods on them

[alpha6]

Typical poorly run customs investigation. There is no way these guys brougnt in 5,195,520 lbs of honey and didn't already have a buyer for it. So customs did the quick hit instead of following the whole investigation through. They should have seized the honey as it was delivered to the packers that were buying Chinese honey which they know is banned in the US.