Hong Kong Seizes $26.6 Million in Illegal Cigs
Credit: Timothy Donahue
Customs officers in Hong Kong seized illegal cigarettes worth more than HK$208 million ($26.6 million) in the first 15 days after a tobacco tax increase came into force as part of last month’s budget.
Superintendent Jeff Lau Leung-chi of the Customs Revenue Crimes Investigation Bureau said on Monday that if the tobacco had been legally imported, the contraband products would have generated about HK$147 million in tax.
Lau attributed the increase in cigarette seizures to enhanced enforcement action at all levels to combat the trade in illegal tobacco products and the operation’s longer duration in the second phase, according to media reports.
“We also believe that crime syndicates anticipated the possibility of an increase in tobacco tax, so they stockpiled a larger quantity of illicit cigarettes ahead of time to supply the market after the tax hike,” he said.
The untaxed cigarettes were discovered over the second phase of a citywide operation code-named “Tempest”, which involved the arrest of 776 people between February 29 and March 14.
During the first round of the operation, which took place between February 19 and 28, Customs detained 538 people and seized HK$62 million worth of illegal tobacco products in 10 days.