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Customs crackdown! The value of the goods is 140 million, several containers have been detained, and many people have been arrested...
2024-08-06 09:31
On July 24, Hong Kong Customs detected another case of illicit cigarette smuggling by sea, seizing 30.4 million illicit cigarettes with a market value of HK$140 million and a taxable value of $100 million, and arrested seven Burmese crew members on board. The captain of the ship was charged with "entering an unmanifested" for failing to provide any cargo manifest documents and was heard at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts on the morning of 26 July.
Hong Kong Customs pointed out during the operation that a suspicious cargo ship entered Hong Kong in the early morning of the 24th, taking advantage of the extremely low sea visibility at night, to enter Hong Kong in the direction of Kau Yi Chau in the sea off Lamma Island. As Customs had already identified it as being linked to a smuggling syndicate, two high-speed interceptor boats were dispatched to intercept the cargo ship, which immediately turned 180 degrees and fled Hong Kong.
Senior Inspector Lam Ming-hong, of the Marine Assault and Search Unit of the Ports and Maritime Services Branch, said that on the night of July 23, officers noticed the target vessel and found that it had not completed the arrival formalities and deployed operations to intercept the vessel. In the early hours of the 24th, when the vessel entered Hong Kong waters at the water boundary south of Hong Kong, the officers thought that the time was ripe and dispatched two high-speed interceptor boats to intercept the vessel, which suddenly made a 180-degree course change and fled to the water boundary south of Hong Kong, trying to evade the interception and inspection of the customs.
Customs officers accelerated the pursuit, and when they approached the waters off Lamma Island, they found the target vessel and demanded that the vessel be stopped and the customs officers board the vessel for search. However, the counterparty failed to stop as instructed and officers immediately adopted the operational strategy of forcibly boarding the vessel to take control of the target vessel and conduct a search. During this period, the Customs Officer obtained the Cargo Manifest from the Captain, but the Captain was suspicious and opened the container for detailed inspection and found a large quantity of suspected unpaid cigarettes, and arrested a total of seven Burmese crew members, aged between 24 and 55, including the 48-year-old captain.
Senior Investigation Officer of the Tax Investigation Division 1 of the Customs and Excise Crime Bureau, Mr Lam Wai-kit, said that when the Revenue Crime Bureau took over the investigation, it was found that there were only three 40-foot containers on board, containing a total of 30.4 million illicit cigarettes, with a market value of HK$140 million and a taxable value of $100 million, and there was no other cargo on board. Upon investigation, it was found that one of the containers contained white-label cigarettes, accounting for 30% of the total seizures, while the other two containers were traditional illicit cigarettes. As the captain failed to provide any cargo manifest documents, he was charged with the offence of "importing unmanifested cargo" and the case was heard in the Eastern Magistrates' Courts on the morning of 26 July.
Smuggling is a serious crime. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person who imports or exports unmanifested cargo is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years. Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, any person who handles, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $1,000,000 and imprisonment for two years.
Mr Lam pointed out that through a series of actions against white-label cigarettes by the Customs and Excise Department, Customs has noticed that the sales of white-label cigarettes in the market have begun to be controlled, but it cannot be ruled out that some criminals disguise white-label cigarettes printed with the statutory health warnings under Hong Kong laws as duty-paid cigarettes and attract retailers, such as newsstands and convenience stores, to help them distribute duty-unpaid cigarettes in the market with considerable profits.
Customs appeals not to buy cigarettes from unknown sources, as all cigarettes sold at prices well below the normal cigarette duty are highly suspicious to be duty-unpaid cigarettes. Customs appeals to retailers not to sell cigarettes from unknown sources or face criminal liability. Customs will take resolute enforcement action whenever there is reasonable suspicion that a trader is selling duty-unpaid cigarettes.
In addition to stepping up enforcement at source, Customs has also launched a territory-wide campaign codenamed "Thunderbolt" to target illicit cigarette retail activities in the city since early July, detecting a total of 43 cases and arresting 44 persons, including 39 men and five women, aged between 27 and 78.
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