HK Customs seizes cigarettes worth $28m

Hong Kong Customs seized about 10.2 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $28 million at the Tsing Yi Customs Cargo Examination Compound on Thursday.

Customs officers found the consignment inside a 40-foot transshipment container, declared to be carrying plastic bins. It had arrived from Vietnam and was heading for the Philippines via Hong Kong.

Authorities said the value of duties on such a cargo in Hong Kong would be about $19.4 million

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, anyone found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and seven years’ imprisonment.