Hong Kong Customs detects two illicit cigarette smuggling cases with tobacco product seizures worth about $120 million
Hong Kong Customs conducted anti-illicit cigarette operations in Tin Shui Wai, Kwai Chung and Yuen Long over the past week and detected two large-scale illicit cigarette smuggling cases. A total of about 15 million suspected illicit cigarettes and about 7,800 kilograms of suspected duty-not-paid manufactured tobacco with an estimated total market value of about $120 million and a duty potential of about $81 million were seized.
In the first case, after an in-depth investigation, Customs on November 30 raided a logistics warehouse in Tin Shui Wai and seized about 5 million suspected illicit cigarettes from a batch of goods arriving from Malaysia en route to Australia via Hong Kong.
In the second case, based on intelligence analysis, Customs yesterday (December 2) intercepted a 40-foot container arriving from Thailand, declared as carrying groceries, at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal. Upon inspection, Customs officers seized about 10 million suspected illicit cigarettes inside the container and arrested a 63-year-old male truck driver, who was suspected to be connected with the case. During the subsequent controlled delivery operation on the same day, Customs officers further seized about 7,800kg of suspected duty-not-paid manufactured tobacco at San Tin, Yuen Long, cracked down on a large manufactured tobacco storage centre and arrested four men aged between 32 and 40 who were suspected to be connected with the case, including the person in charge of the warehouse and three porters.
Investigations of the two cases are ongoing.
Customs will continue its risk assessment and intelligence analysis, and step up enforcement actions to combat cross-boundary illicit cigarette activities. Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two 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/).
Hong Kong Customs detects two illicit cigarette smuggling cases with tobacco product seizures worth about $120 million Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
GREEN@COMMUNITY has taken over recycling service of waste plastics
The "Pilot Scheme on Collection and Recycling Services of Plastic Recyclable Materials" (Pilot Scheme) of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) concluded yesterday (January 18). The collection service of waste plastics in all 18 districts of Hong Kong has been taken over by the operators of GREEN@COMMUNITY.
A spokesman for the EPD said: "After the conclusion of the Pilot Scheme, the recycling service of plastics has been handed over to the GREEN@COMMUNITY recycling network in the respective districts, and the door-to-door collection service of waste plastics provided by the GREEN@COMMUNITY operators to relevant housing estates has also been successfully extended across the territory. The EPD conducted site inspections across districts yesterday and today (January 19) and found that the situation of plastic recycling of residents and housing estates is in order and the operation of GREEN@COMMUNITY recycling stations is generally smooth. The department did not receive any complaint regarding collection service of waste plastics from the relevant housing estates, nor were there any cases observed of certain types of waste plastics not being collected or left unattended. The EPD will continue to monitor the situation."
"After the taking over of waste plastic collection services by GREEN@COMMUNITY, the operators may pass the collected plastics freely to any EPD-approved recyclers for handling, from merely the three designated recyclers under the Pilot Scheme to the current 10 downstream recyclers for processing. The EPD is expediting the approval process and will gradually add more qualified downstream recyclers to the list, further opening up market competition to reduce the cost of collection and recycling of waste plastics," the spokesman added.
The EPD stressed that it will strive to ensure that the plastic collection services for housing estates will remain unaffected after the conclusion of the Pilot Scheme. GREEN@COMMUNITY operators will continue to liaise with the housing estates for more flexible collection services for plastics, as well as other recyclables, with a view to enhancing the cost-effectiveness.
The EPD will continue to strengthen collaboration with GREEN@COMMUNITY operators, downstream recyclers, and relevant housing estates to provide the required plastic recycling services, ensuring that the recycling situation of residents and housing estates remains as usual. The EPD will also step up monitoring of the work of downstream recyclers, including conducting more frequent spot checks, to ensure that all collected waste plastics are properly processed and converted from waste into valuable resources.
