Customs officers have seized three million untaxed cigarettes worth approximately HK$30 million and arrested a 42-year-old man during an anti-illicit cigarette operation in Ap Lei Chau on Tuesday.
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The Revenue Crimes Investigation Bureau operation targeted an industrial building where officers discovered a suspicious truck with several pallets of cardboard boxes at the loading bay. Inspection revealed two million untaxed cigarettes in the vehicle and loading area, leading to the driver's arrest.
A subsequent search of a 1,000-square-foot unit in the same building uncovered an additional one million untaxed cigarettes. The unit is believed to have served as a substantial storage facility for illicit cigarettes.
Customs said the syndicate likely operated during evening hours when most tenants had left the industrial building to reduce detection risk. The seized cigarette brands were mostly uncommon in Hong Kong's market, with packaging specifications differing from locally circulated products.
Officers also found numerous cardboard boxes and empty suitcases in the unit, suggesting possible repackaging of cigarettes for smuggling to overseas markets with higher tobacco taxes than Hong Kong.
Customs is investigating the source and destination of the contraband cigarettes and said further arrests are possible. Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone dealing in, possessing, selling or buying illicit cigarettes faces maximum penalties of HK$2 million fine and seven years' imprisonment.
