Hong Kong customs arrests 3 over illicit cigarettes seizure, HK$11.3m in proceeds

Two men and a woman arrested after raids lead to the seizure of 2.2 million illicit cigarettes and reveal HK$11.3m in suspected laundered proceeds

Hong Kong customs has arrested three members of a local syndicate suspected of selling illicit cigarettes and laundering money, seizing about 2.2 million untaxed products and alleged criminal proceeds of HK$11.3 million.

The Customs and Excise Department said on Wednesday that officers raided five residential flats a day earlier, arresting two men aged 31 and 37, and a 35-year-old woman on suspicion of money laundering.

The department said the operation stemmed from January, when officers first arrested the 37-year-old warehouse worker after raiding a storage facility in Ngau Tam Mei in the New Territories, seizing about 2.2 million illicit cigarettes worth HK$9.9 million.

“The warehouse location was remote, and it had another warehouse inside to evade investigations ... We also found a record booklet of the illicit cigarette activities,” said senior investigator Matthew Shum from the department’s Revenue Crimes Investigation Bureau.

He added that the document detailed the illicit cigarette brand, storage dates and quantities.

A subsequent financial investigation found that the suspect had used his own bank accounts, as well as those of his girlfriend, a 35-year-old saleswoman, to receive payments from individual customers for illicit cigarettes.