Incoming passenger convicted and jailed for importing duty-not-paid cigarettes (with photo)

​An incoming female passenger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and fined $1,000 at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (October 7) for importing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO). Customs officers intercepted a 39-year-old Mainland female passenger arriving in Hong Kong from Bangkok, Thailand, at Hong Kong International Airport on September 7 and seized about 11 600 duty-not-paid cigarettes, with an estimated market value of about $52,000 and a duty potential of about $38,000, from her personal baggage. The passenger was subsequently arrested. Customs welcomes the sentence. 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, cigarettes are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years. Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to

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