Customs officers in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, recently stopped a boat loaded with 781 cases of foreign-brand cigarettes that were being smuggled into China.
The seized cigarettes are estimated at a total value of more than 1.8 million yuan, said a customs source. According to the source, on the afternoon of March 17, customs officers aboard a Coast Guard vessel spotted the smuggling boat as they were patrolling the northern sea area of Yangpu Port. The smuggled cigarette cases were disguised to avoid inspection, and had been loaded into two containers. The boat was registered in the coastal city of Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province. All eight suspects aboard the boat were detained in Haikou, and the case is still under investigation, local sources said.
Customs officers in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, recently stopped a boat loaded with 781 cases of foreign-brand cigarettes that were being smuggled into China.
