Hong Kong customs seizes 120,000 illicit cigarettes in retail crackdown
Customs officers arrested 10 people and seized about 120,000 suspected duty-not-paid cigarettes worth about HK$540,000 in a territory-wide operation targeting newsstands and grocery stores. Since the amended smoking ordinance took effect in September 2025, authorities have busted 38 retail outlets a
Hong Kong customs have arrested 10 people and seized about 120,000 suspected duty-not-paid cigarettes in a territory-wide operation targeting retail outlets including newsstands and grocery stores, the department said on Wednesday.
The contraband, estimated to have a market value of about HK$540,000 and a duty value of about HK$400,000, was confiscated in an operation that began last Wednesday, according to a customs statement.
Officers posed as customers in test purchases and found some outlets selling cigarettes at prices below the statutory duty level. Those arrested, three men and seven women aged 26 to 73, included shop owners and staff.
Customs said that since the Smoking (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 was gazetted in mid-September last year, it has conducted frequent inspections of cigarette retail points and launched multiple enforcement operations, including decoy purchases.
In total, 38 cigarette retail outlets have been shut down, about 450,000 duty-not-paid cigarettes seized and 39 people arrested under the enforcement drive, the department said. Eleven cases have completed judicial proceedings, with sentences ranging from four weeks to six months in jail, while the remaining cases are pending court action.