Nearly HK$180 million worth of illegal cigarettes seized so far this year in Hong Kong
- Customs has already confiscated more of the smuggled tobacco products since January than it did all of last year
- Success is partly due to stepped-up intelligence sharing with regional counterparts, source says
Hong Kong authorities have confiscated nearly HK$180 million (US$23.22 million) worth of contraband cigarettes so far this year, dwarfing the annual total seized in the past four years.
More than 66 million illicit cigarettes have been seized and over 1,180 people arrested, according to customs. The contraband, if legally imported, would have generated about HK$125 million in tax.
“We believe part of the seizures was for local consumption and the remaining was destined for Asian and European countries,” one law enforcement source said.
Authorities seized 55 million cigarettes worth about HK$151 million last year, 53.4 million in 2018 and 60.7 million in 2017.
The source said the big haul this year was the result of better intelligence sharing with overseas law-enforcement agencies to combat maritime smugglers who used “merry-go-round” circuitous routes to avoid detection.
“Cigarettes were legitimately exported from the sourced country and then shipped through different ports in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam before being illegally smuggled into the final destination,” he said.