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A multimillion-dollar cross-border illicit cigarette smuggling racket has been smashed and seven men arrested. Monday, August 12, 2013 A multimillion-dollar cross-border illicit cigarette smuggling racket has been smashed and seven men arrested. Customs officers seized five million sticks of illicit cigarettes with a market value of HK$12 million and a duty potential of HK$8 million. Five were arrested in Sha Tin last Wednesday while unloading the cigarettes, and the other two separately at Man Kam To Control Point on Friday. “The cigarettes were concealed in the center of cartons that were packed with electronic goods,” Investigation Bureau deputy head Catherine Lai Sau- ieng said yesterday. Anti-illicit-cigarette investigation division commander Wan Hing-chuen added: “The way they distribute illicit cigarettes has changed from selling on the streets to telephone orders, and the main distribution areas are East Kowloon and the northwest part of Hong Kong, due to the large number of public housing estates.” Officers also seized 5,000 counterfeit mobile phones and 400 tablet computers with a value of about HK$5.2 million. “This is a very rare case of mixing illicit cigarettes and electronic products,” Wan said. “We suspect that the syndicates combined their smuggling activities for the sake of convenience.” The electronic goods were for transhipment to Third World countries. Wan believes customs dismantled a major smuggling syndicate with the seizure of the largest volume of illicit cigarettes in the past three years. CLEO TSE |