Largest illicit cigarette seizure in 20 years

Customs officers said on Friday they have made the largest seizure of illicit cigarettes in the past two decades with an estimated market value of about HK$90 million.

Authorities also said smugglers have changed tack because of the pandemic.

Officers found about 33 million sticks of suspected illicit cigarettes in their operation on Thursday.

They intercepted two container trucks in Lau Fau Shan and Sheung Shui and found about 22 million cigarettes inside the vehicles. The rest were found on board a truck at a container yard in Lau Fau Shan.

Three men aged between 49 and 64 were taken into custody, and officers from the Customs and Excise Department have not ruled out further arrests.

Authorities also seized three containers suspected to be in connection with the case.

Lee Hoi-man, deputy head of the department’s Revenue Crimes Investigation Bureau, said there’s an upward trend in smuggling by sea because of Covid-19.

“According to past experience, road networks were quite common in smuggling, involving trucks and containers… due to the pandemic, they now smuggle by sea,” he said.

Lee said that involved more complicated logistics arrangements for smugglers as they have to pay attention to issues such as boat schedule, route and related facilities.

And that may also explain the larger hauls. “To ensure there’s stable supply of these cigarettes, smugglers will increase the amount of goods they transported each time into the territory,” he said.

Lee pointed out that smuggling syndicates would store the illicit cigarettes in container yards or other remote locations before selling them to their clients.

Customs authorities have seized about 186 million suspected illicit cigarettes so far this year, which accounted for 90 percent of last year’s total.