Customs seize HK$27m worth of illicit cigarettes in three smuggling cases

Customs announced that they have busted three illicit cigarette facilities in a two-day operation and seized 6 million suspected illicit cigarettes worth nearly HK$27 million.

Customs stated that on Tuesday (May 21), in the twilight hours, they intercepted a suspicious light van in the Shan Kai Wat area located in Fanling, and raided a storage facility.

They were able to seize 38,000 and 1.85 million illicit cigarettes from the van and facility, respectively.

Four men and one woman, aged 30 to 61, were arrested in relation to the crime, and have already been charged. 

They stated that a total of about 1.89 million suspected illicit cigarettes were seized in the above cases, with an estimated market value of approximately HK$8.51 million and a total taxable value of approximately HK$6.25 million.

Customs said that in order to fight back against illicit cigarette activities, they raided two storage facilities in Fanling and Sha Tau Kok.

About 4 million suspected illicit cigarettes were seized from a warehouse on Lin Ma Hang Road, with an estimated market value of about HK$18 million and a taxable value of about HK$13.2 million.

Later, about 100,000 suspected illicit cigarettes were seized from a warehouse on Sha Tau Kok Road, with an estimated market value of about HK$450,000 and a taxable value of about HK$330,000.

The investigations revealed that in the above two cases, the smugglers used plastic boxes and wooden boxes to disguise and package the illicit cigarettes, sneaked them into Hong Kong, and stored them in an attempt to make customs investigations more difficult.

The customs spokesman pointed out that they are currently investigating the source and destination of the illicit cigarettes, and as the investigation for the remaining two cases is still ongoing, more arrests are not ruled out.