Six Arrested In Swoop On Illicit Cigarettes

Customs officials say they seized 21 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about HK$58 million and a duty potential of about HK$40 million in an operation in Fo Tan and San Tin.

They said in a statement that customs officers smashed a suspected illicit cigarette storehouse in Fo Tan on Friday afternoon, seizing about 9.6 million suspected illicit cigarettes. Two men were arrested.

Customs officials said that later on Friday, officers seized about 11 million suspected illicit cigarettes in a 40-foot container inside a fenced area in San Tin and four men were arrested.

They said they could not rule out further arrests.

Customs officials said they'd seized about 120 million suspected illicit cigarettes so far this year, which is about 60 per cent of the total amount seized for the whole of last year.