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Two incoming passengers convicted and jailed for importing duty-not-paid cigars (with photos)
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     ​Two incoming female passengers were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined $2,000 at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (September 21) for importing duty-not-paid cigars and failing to declare them to Customs Officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO).
      
     Customs officers intercepted two Spanish female passengers, one 31 years old and the other 28 years old, arriving in Hong Kong from Cuba via Panama and the Netherlands, at Hong Kong International Airport on September 18 and seized about 55 kilograms of duty-not-paid cigars, with an estimated market value of about $3.9 million and a duty potential of about $230,000 from their personal baggage. The two passengers were 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, cigars are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigars 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 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, September 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 18:55
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Two incoming female passengers were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined $2,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (September 21) for importing duty-not-paid cigars and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance. Photo shows the duty-not-paid cigars seized from the personal baggage of an incoming 31-year-old female passenger.
Two incoming female passengers were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined $2,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (September 21) for importing duty-not-paid cigars and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance. Photo shows the duty-not-paid cigars seized from the personal baggage of an incoming 28-year-old female passenger.