Black market cigarettes worth HK$180 million seized by Hong Kong customs in second-largest bust this year
- Officers intercepted container trucks and seized some 64 million cigarettes last week
- Smuggling syndicate said to have illegally imported cigarettes before repackaging them for overseas markets
Hong Kong customs officers have arrested three men and confiscated HK$180 million (US$23 million) worth of black market cigarettes in the second-largest smuggling bust of its kind so far this year.
Officers intercepted three container trucks at two shipping yards near Tsing Yi Road, Tsing Yi, and Container Port Road South in Kwai Chung last Tuesday morning.
Some 31 million suspected illicit cigarettes were seized from three 40-foot cargo containers the vehicles were carrying.
Officers found another 33 million sticks of tobacco in another three containers in the same yards after a follow-up investigation on the same day.
According to the department, the total haul of 64 million cigarettes has an estimated street value of HK$180 million. If legally imported, the contraband products would have generated HK$120 million in tax revenue.
Customs officers have now seized about 640 million suspected black market cigarettes this year, exceeding last year’s total seizure of about 427 million by about 50 per cent.