Customs officers have smashed a suspected illicit cigarette storage warehouse in Kwai Chung, seizing about 5 million untaxed cigarettes with an estimated market value of HK$22 million and duty value of about HK$16 million.
Six people were arrested in the operation on Monday, Customs revenue crimes investigation officer Ngan Ling-hin said. Officers spotted three men pushing large suitcases and luggage bags into an industrial building unit and intercepted them, finding about 200,000 suspected illicit cigarettes inside the luggage. The three men were arrested.
A subsequent search of the unit uncovered another 4.8 million suspected illicit cigarettes, leading to the arrest of two more women and one man. Those arrested – one local woman, one non-local woman, and four non-local men aged 33 to 55 – are believed to be responsible for transporting and managing the warehouse.
Customs believes the syndicate used inbound travelers to smuggle cigarettes into Hong Kong in an "ant-moving-home" manner, using the industrial unit as a distribution point to repackage the cigarettes from suitcases into cardboard boxes.
Most of the cigarette brands seized are uncommon in the local market, suggesting they were destined for export to countries with significantly higher tobacco duties than Hong Kong, though some may also supply the local market. Investigations into the source and destination of the cigarettes are ongoing.
Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, dealing with, possessing, selling, or buying illicit cigarettes carries a maximum penalty of a HK$2 million fine and seven years' imprisonment.
