The General Directorate of Customs (DGA), a body dependent on the Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP), criminally denounced a maneuver by which a company that had a permit to import (SIMI) gave it to another so that security elements could enter the country.
“It is unusual that at the time a CNG company was able to import motorcycle helmets,” said Guillermo Michel, head of Customs, after the operation where 1,644 helmets whose value amounts to US$ 305,000 were seized. Alpinestars brandwhose merchandise comes from China, but is invoiced from its parent company, in Italy.
Through the irregular maneuver, the company TECNO GNC SRL, dedicated to the commercialization of compressed natural gas equipment for cars (GNC) gave its authorization to import to RACE IN SRL, which has the license to import them and sells them in stores that it owns in shopping centers.
The case is now being processed in the National Economic Criminal Court, where potential crimes under the Customs Code are being investigated, given that the company dedicated to CNG imported the helmets without having the necessary Certificate of Homologation of Safety Auto Parts (CHAS).
“To circumvent that requirement, the firm stated that it was importing mountain bike helmets“, they specified from the agency and confirmed that the fine that Customs will apply could be of up to US$725 thousand