Cigarette smuggling cases surged 80 percent year-on-year in 2024, accounting for over 68 percent of the number of cases handled by Hong Kong Customs last year, Customs officials said on Tuesday.
At a news conference for summarizing the Customs and Excise Department’s annual work last year, officials said Customs handled over 31,000 cases in 2024, with more than 21,000 involved illicit cigarettes.
Chan Tsz-tat, who became the city’s Commissioner of Customs and Excise in December, attributed the surge in cigarette smuggling cases mainly to a 94 percent year-on-year increase of inbound travelers found with cigarettes that exceeded the 19-stick duty-free limit.
Chan said the underlying reason for the increase is that Hong Kong increased the tobacco duty from HK$1.9 (24 US cents) to HK$3.3 per cigarette over the past two years.
Customs seized about 600 million sticks of illicit cigarette, which decreased by 6 percent compared with the previous year.
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Chan said the drop in confiscation was due to some smuggling syndicates’ lowering the number of cigarette being smuggled at one time and diversifying smuggling channels to minimize losses.
The Customs officials also busted 40 large-scale cigarette smuggling cases, during which it seized 328 million sticks of cigarettes.
One case in July saw the seizure of 20.5 million illicit cigarettes and 3.5 metric tons of manufactured tobacco, with a market value of up to HK$120 million, Chan said.
The Customs official added it has stepped up efforts to curb the sales of the “cheap white” cigarettes — lesser-known brands that may not have had the necessary taxes paid on them.
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Chan said that Customs also helped overseas law enforcement agencies to crack multiple cigarette smuggling cases through an international intelligence exchange, especially in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, with a total of 45 cases solved.
Other countries and regions successfully seized illicit cigarettes worth up to HK$200 million thanks to the intelligence shared by Hong Kong Customs, he said.
Also during the conference, Customs said it cracked down on a total of 1,363 drug trafficking cases last year, a figure similar to that of 2023, seizing 6.3 metric tons of narcotics and arresting 366 suspects.
A total of 233 cargo smuggling cases were busted, with a seizure value of HK$4.34 billion.
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As for the department’s development, Customs said it has adopted more proactive measures in recruiting young talents.
Chan said that Customs conducted recruitment talks in campuses to encourage fresh graduates to apply for Customs positions. Hong Kong people studying on the Chinese mainland are also targeted in the department’s recruiting scope.
