HONG KONG: Customs officers claim they are stubbing out the supply of illicit cigarettes, despite the number of cases in Hong Kong hitting an all-time high last year.
The claim comes after officers seized HK$21 million worth of smuggled cigarettes from a shipping container originating in Vietnam and bound for Taiwan.
From 2010 to 2014, the number of cases rose from 6,300 to 11,600. The latest figures up to September show nearly 8,000 cases.
However, Simon Wan Hing-chuen, who heads the customs division investigating illegal cigarettes, played down the problem in Hong Kong.
“According to my experience, there are not many fake cigarettes” circulating around town, he said.
Wan acknowledged the international trend of smuggling, including a flow from the mainland to Hong Kong.
“Smuggling cigarettes is a global problem. Once you evade the [duty], then you win,” he said.
In the latest bust, 7.7 million German-brand Compliment cigarette sticks were seized in the largest detection of contraband in the city since 2013.
The consignment was found in a cargo container which was unloaded from an ocean-going vessel that arrived from Haiphong, Vietnam, on Saturday. It was chosen for inspection.
The contents were listed in the import document as houseware, Wan said.
“When the container was opened for inspection on Tuesday, it was packed with 770 cartons of illicit cigarettes,” he said, adding that no houseware goods were found.
“We believe the consignment was bound for Taiwan because it carried health warnings written in traditional Chinese and printed with the telephone number of a Taiwanese authority,” Wan said.
He said the route being used to smuggle the cigarettes was rare.
But he insisted there was no evidence that Hong Kong was being used as a transit point.
In 2013, customs officers seized 9.3 million illicit cigarettes in a container from Malaysia bound for Australia.
No one has been arrested and investigations are continuing.
