A mainland woman was arrested on Monday for attempting to smuggle cigarettes hidden in a school bag into Macau from the mainland, the Macau Customs Service said in a statement on Monday.
According to the statement, customs officers intercepted a 37-year-old mainland woman with a child in a pushchair, as a school bag hanging from the handles of the pushchair appeared to be “unusual”, and therefore requested to inspect the schoolbag.
The age of the child was not mentioned in the statement.
Upon inspection, the statement said, 400 undeclared cigarettes were found hidden in the child’s backpack, and the woman was suspected of engaging in parallel trading activities.
Customs officers also found that the woman had a total of five entries and exits (two departures and three arrivals) on the same day, the statement said.
The suspect has violated the External Trade Law and will face a fine of up to 100,000 patacas, according to the statement.
The statement urged members of the public to report suspected smuggling by contacting the Macau Customs Service by phone (28965001), fax (28965003), or email info@customs.gov.mo.
This undated handout photo provided by the Macau Customs Service on Monday shows a woman pushing a pushchair with a schoolbag hanging from its handle when arriving in Macau from Gongbei.
