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Customs strike hard! The value of the goods 0.14 billion, several containers were detained, many people were arrested...
Aug 06,2024
The Hong Kong Customs continued the above-mentioned middle and lower reaches strategies, including import and export, re-export, market storage and distribution, and street sales, to crack down on all kinds of illicit cigarette activities. On July 24, another case of smuggling illicit cigarettes by sea was detected and 30.4 million illicit cigarettes were seized, with a market value of HK $0.14 billion and a taxable value of HK $0.1 billion. Seven Burmese crew members on board were arrested. The captain will be charged with "entering an unlisted manifest" for failing to provide any cargo manifest documents and will appear in Eastern Magistracy on the morning of July 26.
When explaining the operation, the Hong Kong Customs pointed out that in the early morning of the 24th, taking advantage of the extremely low visibility of the sea at night, a suspicious cargo ship entered Hong Kong off Lamma Island in the direction of the top island. As the customs had already locked it in connection with the smuggling syndicate, they sent two high-speed interceptor boats to intercept and investigate. The cargo ship was suspected of being suspicious and immediately turned around 180 degrees to escape from Hong Kong. Finally, the customs officers stopped and forcibly boarded the ship for investigation. The illegal cigarettes were seized in the container.
Lin Mingkang, Senior Inspector of the Sea Area Assault and Search Team of the Port and Sea Area Branch, said that on the evening of July 23, officers noticed the target ship and found that it had not gone through the arrival procedures, so they deployed operations to intercept the ship. In the early hours of the 24th, when the ship entered Hong Kong waters at the water boundary south of Hong Kong, the personnel thought the time was ripe and sent two high-speed interceptor boats to intercept the ship. The ship suddenly made a 180-degree change of course and fled to the water boundary south of Hong Kong. Escape the customs interception.
Customs officers accelerated their pursuit and when they reached the waters off Lamma Island, they found the target vessel and asked the vessel to stop and allow customs officers to board and search it. However, the other party did not stop as instructed, and the personnel immediately adopted the strategy of forcibly boarding the ship, controlling the target ship and conducting a search. In the meantime, the customs officer asked the captain for the cargo manifest, but the captain faltered and failed to provide the relevant documents or tell the details of the container, which aroused the suspicion of the customs officer,The container was opened for detailed inspection and a large number of suspected dutiable cigarettes were found. A total of 7 Burmese crew members, aged between 24 and 55, including the 48-year-old captain, were arrested.
Mr Lam Wai-kit, Senior Investigation Officer, Revenue Investigation Group 1, Customs Revenue Crime Bureau, said the investigation was taken over by the Revenue Crime Bureau,Only three 40-foot containers were found on board, with a total of 30.4 million illicit cigarettes, a market value of HK $0.14 billion and a taxable value of $0.1 billion. There were no other goods on board.After investigation, it was found that one of the containers contained white brand cigarettes, accounting for 30% of the total seized, and the other two containers were traditional illicit cigarettes. As the captain failed to provide any cargo manifest documents, he will be charged with the crime of "entering unmanifested cargo". The case was brought before the Eastern Magistracy on the morning of the 26th.
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, anyone who handles, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.
Lin Weijie pointed out that through a series of actions against white brand cigarettes by the Hong Kong Customs, the Customs noticed that the sales of white brand cigarettes in the market were beginning to be controlled. However, personnel did not rule out criminals disguising white brand cigarettes with legal health warnings under Hong Kong laws as duty-paid cigarettes and soliciting retailers, such as newsstands and convenience stores, to help them distribute duty-paid cigarettes in the market with considerable profits.
The Customs and Excise Department urged that cigarettes of unknown origin should not be purchased. All cigarettes sold at much lower than the normal tobacco duty are extremely suspicious of being dutiable cigarettes. The Customs and Excise Department appealed to retailers not to sell cigarettes of unknown origin, or they may face criminal liability. Customs will take decisive enforcement action whenever there is reasonable suspicion that a merchant is selling dutiable cigarettes.
This case demonstrates the enforcement results of the Customs at the source. In addition to strengthening the source crackdown, the Customs has also launched a code-named "Thunderbolt" in various districts of Hong Kong since the beginning of July. A total of 43 cases have been detected and arrested. 44 people, including 39 men and 5 women, aged between 27 and 78, are still in progress.
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