Hong Kong customs has notched up its biggest seizure of black market cigarettes this year after officials impounded HK$140 million (US$17.9 million) worth of contraband tobacco after a sea chase by two high-speed pursuit boats.
The Customs and Excise Department on Thursday said seven crew members of a cargo vessel, including the captain, were arrested in the biggest seizure of cigarettes so far this year.
Senior Inspector Adam Lam Wai-kit of the customs revenue crimes investigation bureau said 30.4 million cigarettes, hidden in three shipping containers, were discovered after the ship was intercepted off Lamma Island in the early hours of Wednesday.
Lam said one of the containers was packed with boxes of untaxed tobacco products with the packets labelled with the Hong Kong health warning.
The type of contraband cigarettes is known as “cheap white”.
“Criminals might try to pass off such ‘cheap white’ cigarettes bearing Hong Kong’s statutory health warnings as legally taxed cigarettes,” Lam said.
“They could be offering these untaxed cigarettes to retailers like news-stands and groceries, enticing them with substantial profits to distribute these illicit tobacco products on the market.”
