HONG KONG: Hong Kong Customs announced here the other day that 100,000 sticks of suspected illicit cigarettes with a market value of about 270,000 HK dollars (about 34,800 U.S. dollars) were seized in an operation on July 7.
Officers of the Customs Marine Enforcement Group in the evening on July 7 intercepted a suspicious fishing vessel towing a small craft in the waters off Cheung Chau, an outlying island of Hong Kong.
After a thorough search, the suspected illicit cigarettes, with a duty potential of about 200,000 HK dollar, were found in the compartments of the small craft and the fishing vessel.
A 65-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman on board were arrested and the vessels were detained.
Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling and buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty on conviction is a fine of 1 million HK dollars and imprisonment for two years.
