More than 20 million smuggled cigarettes seized in Hong Kong so far this year
- Contraband, with estimated street value of HK$54 million, would have cost the government HK$38 million in taxes
- Most of it thought to have come from mainland China
About HK$54 million (US$6.9 million) worth of contraband cigarettes were seized in the first 11 months of 2018, up more than 50 per cent year on year.
That was the result of raids on nearly 250 illegal lock-ups, a figure which had also grown since 2017.
The figures were revealed by Brian Chan Kai-ho of the Customs and Excise Department’s illicit cigarette investigation division on Friday, a day after the seizure of HK$3.6 million worth of untaxed cigarettes hidden in a truck from Shenzhen at an immigration control point.
Between January and November this year, customs officers discovered 244 illegal cigarette storage facilities and confiscated more than 20 million cigarettes with an estimated street value of HK$54 million. The contraband would have cost the government HK$38 million in taxes.
That was up on the 189 storage facilities raided in the same period last year, with the seizure of 13 million duty-not-paid cigarettes. Those hauls had an estimated street value of HK$35 million, with tax potential of HK$24.7 million.
A law enforcement source said most contraband cigarettes found in the city were smuggled from mainland China.