Incoming passenger convicted and jailed for possession of duty-not-paid cigarettes
A female incoming passenger was sentenced to four weeks' imprisonment at the Fanling Magistrates' Courts today (July 5) for possessing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO).
Customs officers intercepted the incoming 63-year-old female passenger at the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point yesterday (July 4) and seized 981 duty-not-paid cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $4,000 and a duty potential of about $3,200 from her personal baggage. The passenger was subsequently arrested.
Customs welcomes the sentence. Even a first-time offender may still be imprisoned. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences. Customs reminds members of the public that under the DCO, tobacco products are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who deals with, possesses, sells or buys 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).
Incoming passenger convicted and jailed for possession of duty-not-paid cigarettes Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
An unseasonably mild December
With the northeast monsoon over southern China generally weaker than normal for most of the time in the month, December 2025 was much warmer than usual in Hong Kong. The monthly mean maximum temperature of 22.4 degrees, monthly mean temperature of 20.2 degrees and monthly mean minimum temperature of 18.4 degrees were 2.0 degrees, 2.0 degrees and 2.2 degrees above their corresponding normals, and all of them were the second highest on record for December. This was also the first time that no Cold Weather Warning was in force in November and December in a year since the Cold Weather Warning System commenced operation in 1999. The month was also drier than usual with a total rainfall of 6.5 millimetres, only about 23 per cent of the normal of 28.8 millimetres. The annual total rainfall of 2 558.7 millimetres was about 5 per cent above the annual normal of 2 431.2 millimetres.
With a band of clouds covering the coast of Guangdong, the weather of Hong Kong was mainly cloudy with one or two rain patches on the first four days of the month. Under the influence of a dry northeast monsoon, the weather turned generally fine and dry on December 5 and remained so on the following four days. With the return of a cloud band, it turned mainly cloudy with one or two rain patches on December 10 and the next morning. It turned generally fine during the day on December 11 as the clouds thinned out. With plenty of sunshine, the maximum temperature at the Observatory rose to 26.0 degrees that afternoon, the highest of the month. A fresh to strong easterly airstream affected the coast of Guangdong the next day. Locally, the weather remained mainly fine and dry.
A cold front moved across the coast of Guangdong on the late afternoon of December 13. Under the influence of its associated strong northeast monsoon, winds strengthened from the north and temperatures fell progressively. It was rather cool on the mornings of the next two days. Additionally, while one or two rain patches occurred on December 13 under the influence of a broad band of clouds, the weather turned generally fine on the night of December 14 under the influence of a dry northeast monsoon and remained so on the next three days. It was also very dry on December 14 and 15, with the relative humidity over most parts of the territory staying around 30 to 40 per cent during the day. With the return of a broad band of clouds, the weather became cloudier with one or two rain patches later on December 18 and the next day. As the cloud band thinned out, the weather turned generally fine and dry during the day on December 20.
Under the influence of a fresh to strong northeast monsoon, it was windier on the following two days. While it was fine and dry on December 21, the weather turned mainly cloudy on December 22 due to the approach of a cloud band and remained so on the following four days. While there were one or two rain patches on the morning of December 25, with a replenishment of the northeast monsoon reaching the coast of Guangdong that morning, the local weather became dry and cool that day. It remained dry with rather cool mornings on the following two days, with the temperature at the Observatory falling to a minimum of 13.8 degrees on the morning of December 27, the lowest of the month. Under the influence of the dry northeast monsoon, the local weather turned mainly fine from December 27 to 29. With the moderation of the northeast monsoon, winds subsided on December 30, with visibility falling below 5 000 metres over parts of the territory that morning. An easterly airstream brought cloudier weather on the last day of the month.
Three tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in December 2025.
Details of issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in the month are summarised in Table 1. Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for December are tabulated in Table 2.
Source: AI-found images
