Two incoming passengers convicted and jailed for dealing with duty-not-paid cigarettes and importing alternative smoking products (with photo)

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     Two incoming passengers were sentenced to seven months' imprisonment and fined $500 respectively by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (February 23) for dealing with duty-not-paid cigarettes, failing to declare them to Customs officers, as well as importing alternative smoking products, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO) and the Import and Export Ordinance (IEO).

     Customs officers intercepted a 29-year-old incoming female passenger and a 35-year-old incoming male passenger at Hong Kong International Airport on December 18, 2025, and seized about 85 600 duty-not-paid cigarettes with a market value of about $385,000 and a duty potential of about $283,000, as well as six alternative smoking products with an estimated market value of about $1,080 from their personal baggage. The two passengers were subsequently arrested.

     The two passengers were sentenced to seven months' imprisonment and fined $500 in contravention of the DCO, and were sentenced to one week's imprisonment in contravention of the IEO today. The sentences run concurrently.

     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, cigarettes 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 drug trafficking 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, February 23, 2026
Issued at HKT 15:33

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Two incoming passengers were sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment and fined $500 respectively by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (February 23) for dealing with duty-not-paid cigarettes, failing to declare them to Customs officers, as well as importing alternative smoking products, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance and the Import and Export Ordinance. Photo shows the duty-not-paid cigarettes and the alternative smoking products seized from the personal baggage of the two passengers.