China News Agency, Hong Kong, December 30th (Reporter Wei Huadu) Hong Kong Customs held a press conference on the 30th and stated that the Customs had recently detected a case of suspected smuggling of cigarettes using barges and seized about 36 million suspected illicit cigarettes with a market value of 100 million yuan ( Hong Kong dollars, the same below), the taxable value is about 69 million yuan.
Cai Xianming, senior inspector of the Hong Kong Customs Port and Sea Area Division Sea Area Action Group, said at a press conference that customs officers intercepted a suspicious barge in the sea near Yau Ma Tei Anchorage through intelligence analysis on December 20, and found that three containers on board used fake numbers. 2 crew members were unable to produce cargo manifests.
Customs officers immediately opened the container and found the batch of suspected illicit cigarettes, and arrested two crew members.
He said the boat involved was moored in busy waters in an attempt to evade detection by using other normally operating boats as cover.
Ye Limin, Senior Investigation Officer of the Tax Investigation Group 1 of the Hong Kong Customs Revenue Crime Investigation Division, added: "The two arrested men were 43 and 56 years old, and one of them was found with drug paraphernalia. Customs will investigate the batch of suspected illicit cigarettes. The source and whereabouts of the cigarettes, it is not ruled out that more people will be arrested. This batch of suspected illicit cigarettes has foreign brands, and it is believed that they are intended to be transshipped to other places.”
Hong Kong Customs stated that, together with the suspected illicit cigarettes seized in this operation, as of December 29, Customs seized about 750 million suspected illicit cigarettes this year, 70% more than the amount seized in the whole of last year.
Customs will continue to intercept and crack down on illicit cigarette activities at the source.
Smuggling is a serious crime.
According to the "Import and Export Ordinance", anyone who imports or exports unmanifested goods is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for 7 years upon conviction.
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