Hong Kong customs seizes 53 million suspected black market cigarettes worth HK$240 million
Boat captain and six crew members arrested as customs targets smuggling activities at sea in recent days
Hong Kong customs officers have seized about 53 million suspected black market cigarettes worth an estimated HK$240 million (US$30.9 million) in two large-scale operations targeting goods being smuggled in by sea in the past few days.
A captain and six crew members aged between 28 and 51 were arrested in connection with one of the cases.
Customs said on Sunday the products included about 20 million cigarettes commonly known as “cheap whites” that would have generated about HK$170 million in government tax revenue if they had been legally imported.
In the first case, customs officers inspected a 40 foot container that arrived from Taiwan and was headed to Foshan, Guangdong province, on Friday. The container was declared to be carrying recycled aluminium.
“Upon inspection, customs officers seized about 11 million suspected illicit cigarettes inside the container. An investigation is ongoing,” customs said.
Officers stopped a vessel in the waters off Tsing Yi on Saturday in the second operation. They seized about 42 million suspected illicit cigarettes inside four 40 foot containers.
The 47-year-old captain of the second ship has been charged with one count of importing unmanifested cargo. He is expected to appear at the West Kowloon Court on Monday.
