Customs busts herbal clinic front for illicit cigarettes
HK01 · 1 SOURCESabout 4 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong Customs said it dismantled a suspected illicit cigarette distribution centre and retail point in Tsuen Wan after tracing sales to a Chinese medicine clinic used as a cover. A 78-year-old man in charge of the clinic was arrested after officers, posing as customers on September 17, found cigarettes being sold below the lawful duty-paid price
Key Points
- Choi Cheuk-fan, an investigation officer with Customs' Revenue Crimes Investigation Bureau, said the operation in Tsuen Wan on September 17 uncovered a suspected illicit cigarette retail outlet
- Officers seized about 100,000 suspected illicit cigarettes, with an estimated market value of HK$440,000 and a duty potential of about HK$320,000
- After further investigation, Customs identified a Chinese medicine clinic in Tsuen Wan and suspected it was being used to disguise illicit cigarette retailing
- During an undercover test purchase on the afternoon of September 17, officers found the clinic operator selling cigarettes below the statutory tobacco duty-paid price and arrested the 78-year-old man, who has since been charged
- Customs said the suspect allegedly chose an older walk-up tenement area without lifts and used a subdivided flat to reduce enforcement risk and make transport more difficult
Why It Matters
The case underlines Customs' warning that both selling and buying illicit cigarettes are offences in Hong Kong, not only large-scale distribution. It also points to continued enforcement under the amended Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, which presumes cigarettes sold below the statutory tobacco duty-paid price are illicit unless duty payment can be proven