Hong Kong Customs seized about seven million untaxed cigarettes worth around HK$31.5 million with a duty potential of HK$23 million in a raid on an industrial building in Fo Tan on Tuesday.
One local man, 45, who claimed to be a driver, was arrested. Officers on anti-illicit cigarette patrol spotted him moving suspicious cartons from a unit in the building at night. About 600,000 cigarettes were found on him, and another 6.4 million were discovered inside the unit.
The roughly 1,000-square-foot space, formed by merging two units, appeared to be a sizable storage warehouse. Some cigarette brands were not common locally, with packaging mimicking legitimate export goods.
Customs found many cartons and packaging materials, suggesting plans to repackage, relabel or rebox the cigarettes to smuggle them to overseas markets with higher tobacco taxes for profit. Some locally common illicit brands were also found, possibly stockpiled for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Customs believes it has prevented a large quantity of illicit cigarettes from entering the market and will investigate the source and distribution, with more arrests possible.
The department stressed it will continue strict enforcement against all illicit tobacco activities. Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, handling, possessing, selling or buying illicit cigarettes carries a maximum penalty of a HK$2 million fine and seven years' imprisonment.
