Hong Kong customs confiscates HK$1.23 billion worth of illegal cigarettes this year, largest haul in 2 decades
- If legally imported, this year’s contraband would have generated HK$839 million in tax, according to law enforcement source
- Two factors leading to record haul were the resumption of seaborne logistics and possible rise in price in Europe, says source
Hong Kong customs officers have confiscated HK$1.23 billion (US$157 million) worth of black-market cigarettes so far this year, making it the largest annual haul of the contraband over the past two decades.
The latest figures from the Customs and Excise Department showed about 440 million untaxed cigarettes had been seized in the city as of September 22 this year, well above 427 million cigarettes worth HK$1.19 billion found in the whole of 2021.
If legally imported, this year’s contraband would have generated HK$839 million in tax, according to a law enforcement source on Friday.
“The volume of illegal tobacco products discovered so far this year is well above the seizure of the contraband in a single year since 2002,” the source said.
He said the two main factors that led to more contraband cigarettes being found in the city this year were the resumption of seaborne logistics and a possible rise in the price of tobacco products in Europe.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic in the first quarter of this year, he said ports around the world had tightened quarantine controls, which had seriously disrupted seaborne logistics supply chains.