Hong Kong Customs arrested a 33-year-old man near a residential estate in Ngau Chi Wan on 22 September after officers posing as buyers arranged a suspected illicit-cigarette transaction. About 30,000 suspected duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in his private car.
Customs estimated the cigarettes’ market value at about HK$135,000, with a dutiable value of about HK$100,000.
The investigation began in early September, when officers intercepted a man distributing cigarette leaflets at a public housing estate in Wong Tai Sin. The leaflets listed prices and a telephone number for placing orders. Officers later used the number to contact a suspected seller, posing as buyers and arranging a meeting at a residential estate in East Kowloon.
Customs said preliminary investigation indicated that the arrested man acted as a delivery operator. He reported that he was unemployed. The private car was detained while officers investigated the source of the suspected cigarettes, and the operation was continuing, with further arrests not ruled out.
Customs warned that handling, possessing, selling or buying illicit cigarettes is an offence under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty is a HK$2 million fine and seven years’ imprisonment.