Hong Kong Seizes 600 Million Illicit Cigarettes in Nine Months

Hong Kong Seizes 600 Million Illicit Cigarettes in Nine Months

Nine-month haul nearly matches last year's total

Hong Kong customs officers seized 600 million sticks of illicit cigarettes in the first nine months of 2026, a figure nearly matching the entire annual total for 2025, Commissioner of Customs and Excise Chan Tsz-tat said on a radio programme on Saturday.

200 million sticks were transiting through the city

Of the 600 million sticks seized, about 200 million had been destined for other places and were intercepted in Hong Kong while being transshipped, Chan said, underscoring how smuggling syndicates exploit the city as a transit hub.

New scanners planned to ease staffing strain

Chan revealed plans to roll out more advanced contraband detection equipment at additional border checkpoints, a move aimed at easing manpower pressure as seizure volumes stay stubbornly high.

360,000 sticks found hidden in vegetable boxes

Smugglers keep trying creative cover loads. On September 30, officers at the Man Kam To Control Point stopped an inbound truck declared to be carrying vegetables and found about 360,000 suspected illicit cigarettes mixed with produce inside 63 foam boxes. The haul had an estimated market value of about HK$1.88 million and a duty potential of about HK$1.18 million. A 62-year-old local driver was arrested.

Car-parts shipments bound for Australia yield 780,000 sticks

Other syndicates repack cigarettes as legitimate cargo bound for countries with higher tobacco taxes. On September 22 and 24, customs intercepted two such consignments declared as car parts and bound for Australia by sea, one at a logistics warehouse in Tin Shui Wai and one at the Tsing Yi customs inspection yard, seizing more than 780,000 sticks with an estimated market value of about HK$3.5 million and a duty value of about HK$2.6 million.

Four sea-smuggling cases net over 51 million sticks

Between August and September, intelligence exchanges with regional law enforcement led officers to examine five containers arriving from Southeast Asia at the Kwai Chung inspection yard, cracking four sea-smuggling cases. More than 51 million suspected smuggled cigarettes were seized, with an estimated market value of about HK$230 million and a dutiable value of about HK$170 million. Preliminary inquiries suggest the shipment was also meant for onward transshipment.

Ocean liners hide 14 million sticks in household goods

In September, customs also smashed five suspected ocean-vessel smuggling cases, targeting 13 containers bound for Australia and declared as carrying household goods such as storage boxes, pillows and mattresses. Officers found about 14 million suspected illicit cigarettes and about 7,400 kilograms of duty-unpaid manufactured tobacco, plus electronics and vehicle parts, with a total estimated value of about HK$140 million.

Retail sweep nets 100,000 sticks in Sham Shui Po

Enforcement reached street level too. In a joint operation with the Sham Shui Po police district from September 18 to 30, customs raided 22 makeshift storage points and one mobile stall, seizing about 100,000 cigarettes worth about HK$480,000 and arresting five people.

Smuggling carries up to HK$2 million fine and 7 years' jail

Customs stressed that smuggling is a serious offence: importing or exporting unmanifested cargo, or handling, possessing, selling or buying illicit cigarettes, carries a maximum penalty of a HK$2 million fine and seven years' imprisonment. The department said it will keep up its risk-based, intelligence-led enforcement against cross-border cigarette smuggling.