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Hong Kong Customs raids four suspected illicit cigarette sales outlets and suspected illicit cigarette storage centre (with photos)
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     Hong Kong Customs mounted a territory-wide anti-illicit cigarette enforcement operation for two consecutive days (September 29 and 30) and raided four suspected illicit cigarette sales outlets and one suspected illicit cigarette storage centre in Sham Shui Po, seizing a total of about 1.32 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $5.94 million and a duty potential of about $4.36 million. Seven persons were arrested.
      
     Customs officers today (September 30) conducted surprise inspections on cigarette sales outlets in various districts and found two newsstands in Kwai Chung and Tuen Mun, as well as two stores in Kwun Tong and Fanling, selling cigarettes at a price lower than the tobacco duty. Customs officers then took enforcement actions and arrested two men and four women, comprising the newsstand or store owners and employees, aged between 36 and 73.
      
     Moreover, during an anti-illicit cigarette operation conducted in Sham Shui Po yesterday (September 29), Customs intercepted a suspicious man and found 1 600 suspected illicit cigarettes in a black plastic bag carried by him. Customs officers then escorted the man to his nearby residence for a search and further seized about 1.3 million suspected illicit cigarettes. After preliminary investigations, Customs believes that this suspected illicit cigarette storage centre was primarily used to supply illicit cigarettes to areas in Sham Shui Po.

     Under the amended Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO) which took effect on September 19, cigarettes sold at a price lower than the tobacco duty must be proven to be duty-paid, otherwise the cigarettes are presumed to be duty-not-paid. 
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     Customs appeals to retailers not to sell cigarettes from unknown sources. Retailers must stay vigilant against cigarettes with import prices lower than the tobacco duty in order to avoid criminal liability.

     Customs reminds retailers and members of the public that under the DCO, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

     Retailers and members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).
 
Ends/Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Issued at HKT 18:28
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Hong Kong Customs mounted a territory-wide anti-illicit cigarette enforcement operation for two consecutive days (September 29 and 30) and raided four suspected illicit cigarette sales outlets and one suspected illicit cigarette storage centre in Sham Shui Po, seizing a total of about 1.32 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $5.94 million and a duty potential of about $4.36 million. Photo shows a suspected illicit cigarette sales outlet in Kwai Chung.
Hong Kong Customs mounted a territory-wide anti-illicit cigarette enforcement operation for two consecutive days (September 29 and 30) and raided four suspected illicit cigarette sales outlets and one suspected illicit cigarette storage centre in Sham Shui Po, seizing a total of about 1.32 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $5.94 million and a duty potential of about $4.36 million. Photo shows a suspected illicit cigarette sales outlet in Kwun Tong.
Hong Kong Customs mounted a territory-wide anti-illicit cigarette enforcement operation for two consecutive days (September 29 and 30) and raided four suspected illicit cigarette sales outlets and one suspected illicit cigarette storage centre in Sham Shui Po, seizing a total of about 1.32 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $5.94 million and a duty potential of about $4.36 million. Photo shows some of the suspected illicit cigarettes seized from the suspected illicit cigarette storage centre in Sham Shui Po.
Hong Kong Customs mounted a territory-wide anti-illicit cigarette enforcement operation for two consecutive days (September 29 and 30) and raided four suspected illicit cigarette sales outlets and one suspected illicit cigarette storage centre in Sham Shui Po, seizing a total of about 1.32 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $5.94 million and a duty potential of about $4.36 million. Photo shows some of the suspected illicit cigarettes seized from the suspected illicit cigarette storage centre in Sham Shui Po.