An incoming male passenger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and fined $500 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (January 19) for dealing with duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, as well as for importing prohibited articles not under and in accordance with the import licence, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO) and the Import and Export Ordinance (IEO).
      
     Customs officers intercepted an incoming male passenger, aged 48, at Hong Kong International Airport on November 23, 2025. About 11 000 duty-not-paid cigarettes and nine tablets of pharmaceutical products containing Part I Poisons, with a total estimated market value of about $50,000 and a duty potential of about $36,000, were seized from his personal baggage. The passenger was subsequently arrested.
      
     Customs welcomes the sentence. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences.
      
     Customs reminds members of the public that under the DCO, tobacco products are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
      
     Under the IEO, any person who imports pharmaceutical products and medicines without a valid import licence commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling 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/Monday, January 19, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:55

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