Hong Kong customs arrests 5 men, seizes HK$45 million worth of black market cigarettes
Officers intercepted a suspicious fishing boat in the waters off Hong Kong’s southernmost island, Po Toi, on Friday morning
Hong Kong customs officers have arrested five suspected smugglers and seized about 10 million black market cigarettes worth around HK$45 million from a fishing boat.
The Customs and Excise Department revealed on Saturday that officers had intercepted a suspicious fishing boat in the waters off Hong Kong’s southernmost island, Po Toi, the previous morning and seized the cigarettes after an inspection.
The seized cigarettes, which were in compartments in the boat, had a duty potential of about HK$33 million, customs said.
Five non-local men, aged between 29 and 43, were arrested in connection with the suspected smuggling. They will be charged with one count of importing unmanifested cargo, and will appear at Eastern Court on Monday.
The department said it would continue to trace the source and the flow of the illicit cigarettes, adding that further arrests were not ruled out.
“Customs will continue its risk assessment and intelligence analysis for interception at source as well as through its multipronged enforcement strategy targeting storage, distribution and peddling to spare no effort in combating illicit cigarette activities,” it said.