Police, Customs Seize HK$4.05 Million Smuggled Cigarettes
On.cc · 2 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Police and Customs carried out a joint anti-smuggling operation in Sai Kung in the early hours of September 4 after intelligence suggested recent smuggling activity in the area. Officers seized about 900,000 suspected illicit cigarettes worth about HK$4.05 million and impounded a suspected goods vehicle after the men involved escaped by speedboat.
Key Points
- The operation was conducted by the Regional Task Force of the Marine Police Region, the Eastern Division of the Marine Police, and the Customs Marine Enforcement Division in the early hours of September 4.
- Officers spotted two speedboats without navigation lights near the shore at Che Keng Tuk, Sai Kung, where several men were moving cargo from the boats onto a truck.
- When officers moved in, the suspects immediately boarded the speedboats and fled; the two vessels later escaped Hong Kong’s eastern waters toward the mainland direction.
- Authorities impounded the suspected truck and seized about 900,000 suspected illicit cigarettes, with an estimated market value of HK$4.05 million and duty potential of about HK$2.98 million.
- on.cc reported that a separate case was also detected near Sha Ha, Sai Kung on the same morning, involving 2.37 million suspected illicit cigarettes worth about HK$10.67 million and another truck.
Why It Matters
The case shows that enforcement agencies are continuing to target sea-borne smuggling routes around Sai Kung, where suspects were allegedly using unlit speedboats and shoreline transfers to move goods. The reports also underline the heavier penalties now attached to illicit tobacco offences, with a maximum fine of HK$2 million and seven years’ imprisonment under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance and the 2025 tobacco law amendments cited by on.cc.