Court orders Red Bull counterfeiters' arrest

MANILA, Philippines - A Baguio Regional Trial Court has ordered the arrest of top five officials of a firm who allegedly “pirated” the popular Red Bull energy drink.

RTC Branch 59 Judge Illuminada Cabato ordered all five directors of Maryland Distributors Inc., – Gino Baltao, Nelson Escobar, Benjamin Ros, Alfonso Arante and Mary Bernadine Tionloc, who were believed to be in hiding since Monday, arrested for “unfair competition.”  

Baguio Assistant Prosecutor Nenita Opiana found probable cause in the complaint by the Energy Food and Drinks, Inc. (EFDI), the exclusive Philippine distributor of Red Bull Energy Drink (Supreme) for tampering against Maryland Distributor Inc., hence, convincing the court to issue warrants of arrest of the five officials of the firm. EFDI said Maryland Distributors, Inc. has been caught tampering with the Red Bull Supreme Energy Drink label products.

Tampering is illegal and in violation of pertinent laws such as the Revised Penal Code and RA No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code (for Unfair Competition) and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which carries a criminal penalty ranging from two to five years imprisonment and a fine from P50,000 to P200,000.

As exclusive Philippine distributor and grantee of BFAD Registration No. FR-14022, EFDI printed in each box and bottle of Red Bull Supreme Energy Drink (product) the words Manufactured by: T.C. Pharmaceutical Ind. Co. Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand exclusively distributed by: Energy Food & Drinks, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines to identify its product.

Expiry dates

Before Nov. 5, 2009, EFDI claimed it received information that Red Bull Supreme Energy Drink products with expiry date of November 2010 were being distributed and sold in different stores in the local market, specifically in Pangasinan, Baguio City, La Trinidad and La Union using the labels above but with a sticker label on the bottles reading, “Manufactured by: T.C. Pharmaceutical Ind. Co. Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand, authorized Philippine importer Maryland Distributors, Inc., Taytay, Rizal.

The Red Bull Supreme Energy Drink products are with expiry dates up to December 2009 and exclusively distributed by EFD. Tampered Red Bull Supreme Energy Drink products with expiry date of November 2010 did not come from EFDI, the complaint said.

Two employees of the EFDI who conducted surveillance and test buys on Nov. 5, 2009, in several establishments in San Fernando City, La Union yielded positive results. Subsequently, the two EFDI employees accompanied special investigators of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Ilocos Regional Office in San Fernando City, La Union, in conducting further test-buy operations in Baguio City and La Union.

The NBI test-buy operations yielded positive results, leading the special investigators to execute on Nov. 18, 2009 a joint affidavit affirming the findings in a post-operation report.