The customs found that criminals were sending suspected unpaid cigarettes to Australia through the local postal service. The smugglers packaged the illicit cigarettes into ordinary postal packages such as yoga balls, water filters, and cuckoos, and used false information at different times and at the post office. Post it.
Yesterday (11th) Customs arrested a total of 5 men and seized a total of 9 million suspected unpaid cigarettes and about 1,300 kilograms of suspected manufactured tobacco. The market value is about 28.8 million Hong Kong dollars and the taxable value is about 20 million Hong Kong dollars.
The Customs believes that this operation has dismantled a transnational illicit cigarette group and arrested the key members of the group. The Customs stated that it will continue to investigate and will not rule out the arrest of more people.
In October of this year, the police and the Australian authorities exchanged analysis and investigations. Recently, the Hong Kong Maritime Office discovered that two logistics centers in Tsuen Wan and a postal center in Kowloon Bay were reported to contain 2.9 million sticks of unpaid cigarettes and About 1,300 kilograms are suspected of being made into tobacco.
Yan Zhuoxuan, senior investigation director of the Customs Revenue Crime Investigation Division, said that the customs believes that a large number of criminals smuggled through the local postal service and posted them at different times and post offices to avoid customs investigations.
Criminals will use fake information to post, and even pack illicit cigarettes into ordinary parcels, which are mixed in general cargo, including yoga balls, water filters, and gluttons.
Customs launched an investigation into the case. Until Monday (11th), customs officers conducted anti-illicit cigarette operations in Sheung Shui and Tuen Mun districts. They intercepted and searched two suspicious men and a truck outside the post office in Shek Wu Hui, Sheung Shui.
A total of 700,000 suspected unpaid cigarettes were seized in the mail and trucks they were going to send to Australia. It is believed that the criminals sent the batch of illicit cigarettes at a unit in Tuen Mun. The officers found 3 more men in the unit. They packed illicit cigarettes in the unit, the customs arrested them, and seized another 5.3 million suspected duty-not-paid cigarettes in the unit.
Customs detains 5 men for $28.8 million in illicit cigarettes and tobacco
During the entire operation, the customs seized a total of 9 million suspected unpaid cigarettes and approximately 1,300 kilograms of suspected manufactured tobacco, with a market value of approximately HK$28.8 million and a taxable value of approximately HK$20 million.
The Customs arrested 5 men, they were between 30 and 45 years old.
Yan Zhuoxuan said that the global shipping industry is affected by the epidemic, and the shortage of containers has increased freight rates. As a result, criminals have tried to smuggle by mail and other methods to earn the difference between the two places.
For example, Yan pointed out that a pack of cigarettes in Hong Kong sells for about 60 Hong Kong dollars and a pack of cigarettes in Australia sells for about 200 Hong Kong dollars. It is believed that criminals will send illicit cigarettes overseas to make relative profits.
So far this year, the customs has seized more than 300 million cigarettes suspected of not paying taxes.
01News
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