Hong Kong customs seizes French wine, Cuban cigars in crackdown on suspected smuggling operation
- The haul, which also included bird’s nest and electronics, was valued at HK$10 million
- The value of contraband seized in seaborne smuggling cases has almost doubled in the first five months of 2021
More than 200 bottles of French wine – each one worth over HK$20,000 (US$2,578) in mainland China – were among some HK$10 million worth of goods seized on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island in the latest crackdown on cross-border smuggling.
A senior customs official on Saturday said the Shenzhen-bound haul also included more than 580 Cuban cigars, each one worth as much as HK$1,500 on the mainland market, and some HK$8 million worth of bird’s nest.
“Initial investigation shows the three different brands of red wine cost around HK$7,000 each and the Cuban cigars are worth up to HK$500 each in the Hong Kong market, but they are subject to mainland taxes of up to 230 per cent,” said Senior Superintendent Mark Woo Wai-kwan, head of the Customs and Excise Department’s syndicate crimes investigation bureau.
Woo said the smuggling attempt was an effort to avoid stringent import restrictions and steep mainland duties.
Official figures showed the value of contraband goods seized in seaborne smuggling cases in Hong Kong almost doubled to HK$290 million in the first five months of 2021, up from HK$150 million in the same period last year.