Inbound guest founded guilty and imprisoned for ownership of duty-not-paid cigarettes (with image)
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An inbound traveler was sentenced to 4 weeks’ jail time with a fine of $1,000 by the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts today (April 28) for having duty-not-paid cigarettes and stopping working to state them to Customs officers, in breach of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO).
Customs officers obstructed the inbound 70-year-old male guest on April 26 at the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point and took 4 585 duty-not-paid cigarettes from his individual luggage, with an approximated market price of about $18,700 and a responsibility capacity of about $15,100. He was consequently jailed.
Custom-mades invites the sentence, keeping in mind that even a novice wrongdoer might still be locked up. The custodial sentence has actually enforced a significant deterrent result and shows the severity of the offenses. Members of the general public must not defy the law.
Customizeds advises members of the general public that under the DCO, cigarettes are dutiable products to which the DCO uses. Anyone who imports, handle, has, offers or purchases illegal cigarettes dedicates an offense. The optimum charge upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and jail time for 7 years.
Members of the general public might report any presumed illegal cigarette activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its devoted crime-reporting e-mail account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online kind (eform.cefs.gov.hk/ form/ced002).