Customs officers from the Revenue and General Investigation Bureau have made the largest seizure of smuggled cigarettes this year.
Hong Kong Customs believed that smugglers had attempted to use circuitous routings to evade Customs crackdown.
During a cargo examination operation at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal yesterday (June 6), Customs officers searched two transshipment containers unloaded from a river trade vessel from Huangpu in the Mainland. The containers, declared to be carrying 800 cartons of mosquito curtains, were found to contain 7.5 million sticks of dutiable cigarettes. The seizure amounted to HK$11.25 million and the duty potential was about HK$6 million.
The Divisional Commander of Customs Anti-Illicit-Cigarette Division, Ms Rose Ho, said today (June 7) "Initial investigations revealed that the consignment was destined for Guinea, West Africa, via Spain. We believe that the smugglers were attempting to evade Customs investigations by using circuitous routings to ship the cigarettes from one Customs territory to another.
The Hong Kong Customs has all along been attaching prime importance to combating cigarette smuggling activities and proactively keeping track of the changing modus operandi used by cigarette smugglers.
Ms Ho said that during the 10th World Customs Organisation Asia Pacific Heads of Customs Administration Conference held in New Zealand earlier this year, the Hong Kong Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr Timothy Tong's proposal to step up regional co-operation to fight against cross-boundary cigarette smuggling activities won strong support from participants. It was resolved that an Anti-Illicit Contact Point Meeting would be held in Hong Kong to discuss the matter.
"Customs investigations are continuing. No arrest has been made so far," Ms Ho said.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, the maximum penalty for importing unmanifested cargo is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Ends/Monday, June 7, 2004