Seven arrested as police bust $13.5m cigarette smuggling ring in Chai Wan

Hong Kong's Marine Police have dismantled a suspected cigarette smuggling warehouse in Chai Wan, seizing HK$13.5 million worth of illicit cigarettes and arresting seven individuals during a targeted anti-smuggling operation on Thursday morning.

Acting on intelligence gathered during an in-depth investigation, officers from the Marine Police Regional Crime Unit raided a unit in an industrial building on April 30.

Inside, they discovered a major storage and distribution center for contraband.

Police seized approximately 2.7 million suspected duty-not-paid cigarettes. The haul has an estimated market value of HK$13.5 million and would have represented a loss of about HK$8.93 million in tax revenue. A lorry believed to be used for storing and distributing the smuggled goods was also impounded.

Seven people found in the unit were arrested. The group includes two local men, three non-Chinese men, and two non-Chinese women, with ages ranging from 27 to 66.

They were arrested for suspicion of "possessing or dealing with goods subject to the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance."

The five non-Chinese individuals were also arrested for allegedly breaching their conditions of stay in Hong Kong.

Investigators believe the crime syndicate smuggled the cigarettes into the city by sea. The goods were then transported to the industrial building for storage, where they were repackaged as general cargo for distribution.

Officers also found that some of the packages had overseas postal labels, suggesting the group may have intended to re-export the illicit cigarettes to other countries with high tobacco taxes to further their profits.

All arrested individuals are currently being detained for questioning as the investigation, led by the Marine police district, continues.

 

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