Hong Kong Customs seizes cigarette smuggling worth US$2.7 mln

[TIEPILOT]

Hong Kong Customs seizes cigarette smuggling worth US$2.7 mln

Xinhua, November 4, 2015

Hong Kong Customs seized 7.7 million illicit cigarettes on Tuesday worth about 21 million HK dollars (about 2.7 million U.S. dollars), with a duty potential of about 15 million HK dollars, it said on Wednesday.

The cigarettes were found in a container at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound declared to be carrying housewares from Haiphong, Vietnam.

A spokesman said the operation showed the effectiveness of Hong Kong Customs' enforcement strategy, especially the escalated enforcement actions against smuggling activities at source.

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, smuggling is a serious offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of 2 million HK dollars and imprisonment for seven years.

 

[Gimli]

'War on illicit cigarettes being won': Haul of HK$21 million worth of contraband smokes bound for Taiwan discovered in Hong Kong

But figures show cases hit record high last year; latest seizure is the largest since 2013

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 6:33pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 05 November, 2015, 2:52am

Clifford Lo and Danny Lee

The illicit cigarettes on display. Photo: Nora Tam

Customs officers claim they are stubbing out the supply of illicit cigarettes, despite the number of cases in Hong Kong hitting an all-time high last year.

The claim comes after officers seized HK$21 million worth of smuggled cigarettes from a shipping container originating in Vietnam and bound for Taiwan.

From 2010 to 2014, the number of cases rose from 6,300 to 11,600. The latest figures up to September show nearly 8,000 cases.

However, Simon Wan Hing-chuen, who heads the customs division investigating illegal cigarettes, played down the problem in Hong Kong.

"According to my experience, there are not many fake cigarettes" circulating around town, he said.

The contraband cigarettes seized from a container and bound for Taiwan. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Wan acknowledged the international trend of smuggling, including a flow from the mainland to Hong Kong.

"Smuggling cigarettes is a global problem. Once you evade the [duty], then you win," he said.

In the latest bust, 7.7 million German-brand Compliment cigarette sticks were seized in the largest detection of contraband in the city since 2013.

The consignment was found in a cargo container which was unloaded from an ocean-going vessel that arrived from Haiphong, Vietnam, on Saturday. It was chosen for inspection.

The contents were listed in the import document as houseware, Wan said.

"When the container was opened for inspection on Tuesday, it was packed with 770 cartons of illicit cigarettes," he said, adding that no houseware goods were found.

"We believe the consignment was bound for Taiwan because it carried health warnings written in traditional Chinese and printed with the telephone number of a Taiwanese authority," Wan said.

He said the route being used to smuggle the cigarettes was rare.

But he insisted there was no evidence that Hong Kong was being used as a transit point.

In 2013, customs officers seized 9.3 million illicit cigarettes in a container from Malaysia bound for Australia.

No one has been arrested and investigations are continuing.