An incoming passenger was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment and fined $600 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (January 29) for possessing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, as well as for importing alternative smoking products, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO) and the Import and Export Ordinance (IEO).
      
     Customs officers intercepted a 39-year-old incoming male passenger at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday (January 28) and seized about 32 000 duty-not-paid cigarettes and 16 000 alternative smoking products, with a total estimated market value of about $192,000 and a duty potential of about $105,000, from his personal baggage. He was subsequently arrested. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined $600 in contravention of the DCO and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment in contravention of the IEO today. Parts of the two sentences run concurrently, making for a total of seven months' imprisonment.
      
     Customs welcomes the sentence. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences.
      
     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 an alternative smoking product into Hong Kong 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 illicit cigarette or 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/Thursday, January 29, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:20

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