BEIJING: Customs officers broke up a suspected illegal cigarette distribution ring in Tin Shui Wai on Saturday, arresting a 33-year-old man and seizing 920,000 cigarettes.
The goods are worth about HKD2.48 million, and would have given the government HKD1.75 million in tax revenue had they been sold legally.
Customs suspected that a syndicate was using lorries to distribute illegal cigarettes to peddlers in Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long.
The authorities believe that this particular syndicate has now been “neutralised”.
Anyone caught dealing with, selling, or buying illicit cigarettes are liable to a fine of HKD1 million and two years in prison.
