Hong Kong customs seizes record HK$2.25 billion worth of cigarettes in 2023 as smugglers change tactics post-pandemic
- Customs increasing checks to see if gangs are stockpiling contraband in anticipation of possible tax increase
- Smugglers said to be using ‘merry-go-round’ tactic, moving black market cigarettes through different countries
Hong Kong customs officers impounded more than 650 million black market cigarettes worth HK$2.25 billion (US$287.8 million) last year, the biggest annual cash value in more than two decades, the Post has learned.
A source said the seized cigarettes would have generated about HK$1.54 billion in tax revenue, also a record, over the same period.
The insider said the confiscated tobacco products were at present stored in government warehouses, pending court proceedings or further investigations before being destroyed and buried at landfill sites.
He added customs officials would boost efforts to combat crime syndicates that tried to take advantage of busy logistics services in the run-up to Lunar New Year to smuggle cigarettes into the city.
They would also step up intelligence gathering to check whether gangs were stockpiling contraband cigarettes in anticipation of a rise in the tobacco tax, although the insider said that was unlikely to be the case.