Customs officers raided a remote container hut used as a storage and distribution centre for illicit cigarettes in Sheung Shui's Tin Ping Shan Tsuen on Monday, seizing about 122,000 cigarettes worth HK$550,000.
Three unemployed people, two men and one woman aged 19 to 39, were arrested while moving the cigarettes. The estimated duty potential is HK$400,000.
The container hut's secluded location in an area with few non-residents made detection difficult. Customs believes the centre supplied the North District market.
Officers on surveillance around 6pm saw the trio moving nylon bags from the hut to a car. They were intercepted and 35,000 cigarettes were found in the bags and vehicle. Another 87,000 cigarettes were later seized from the hut.
All three have been charged. Customs reminded the public that handling, possessing, selling or buying illicit cigarettes carries a maximum penalty of a HK$2 million fine and seven years in jail.
