Last updated: April 13, 2010
Source: Earth Times
Hong Kong – More than 8 million illicit cigarettes worth 2 million US dollars bound for Britain have been seized in Hong Kong, customs officials said Tuesday.
The haul of 852 cartons of branded cigarettes was sent by river from Guangzhou in southern China to Hong Kong and was on a cargo container due to be shipped to Britain.
The shipping container was marked as containing ovens, a customs spokesman said. The cigarettes it contained would be liable to around 1.3 million US dollars in tax.
No one was arrested after the cigarettes were detected by X-ray at Hong Kong’s container terminal Monday and investigations into the case were continuing, the spokesman said.