HK Customs seizes 5.3 mln HK dlrs worth of smuggled cigarettes

Hong Kong Customs officers seized Monday 5.34 million HK dollars (679,000 US dollars) worth of illicit cigarettes from a lorry and arrested a 41-year-old male driver, said a Customs spokesman Tuesday.

After extensive investigations, customs officers from the Anti-Illicit-Cigarette Investigation Division targeted an incoming lorry, suspected of smuggling illicit cigarettes into Hong Kong.

At about 12:20 p.m., customs officers followed the lorry from Lok Ma Chau Control Point and intercepted it at Castle Peak Road in Kwu Tung for inspection.

They found 3.56 million sticks of illicit cigarettes on board. The seized cigarettes carried a market value of 5.34 million HK dollars and a duty potential of about 2.86 million HK dollars (367,000 US dollars).

The male driver, aged 41, was arrested.

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, the maximum penalty for smuggling is a fine of 2 million HK dollars (256,000 US dollars) and seven years' imprisonment.

So far this year, Hong Kong Customs officers have cracked 11 cases of smuggling illicit cigarette into Hong Kong involving the seizure of 27 million sticks of cigarettes and the arrest of 17 people.

The seizures were worth about 41.82 million HK dollars (5.4 million US dollars), with a duty potential of 22.41 million HK dollars (2.9 million US dollars), said the spokesman.

Source: Xinhua