Customs arrest 3 suspected of illicit cigarette and money laundering

已複製連結

Customs has dismantled a illicit cigarette and money laundering syndicate involving over $20 million. Two men and one woman have been arrested.

One of the male suspects was arrested yesterday in Ma On Shan. He was taken away by Customs officers for investigation on suspicion of money laundering.

In January this year, Customs seized approximately 2.2 million suspected illicit cigarettes at a tin-sheet shed in Ngau Tam Mei, Yuen Long. The estimated market value is $9.9 million, with a duty potential of about $7.3 million.

A 37-year-old man, who claimed to be a warehouse worker, was arrested at the scene. Following further investigation, officers arrested his 35-year-old girlfriend for allegedly providing her bank accounts to facilitate money laundering by receiving transfers from illicit cigarette sales.

The investigation also revealed that between 2021 and 2025, the warehouse worker purchased and resold illicit cigarettes through a man claiming to be a car wash employee. The bank accounts of the two men saw over a hundred suspicious transactions per month on average, involving a total of more than $11 million in funds. All three suspects have been released on bail pending further investigation.