Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs announced in a statement on Saturday that its officers seized 1,234 cigars from a Macau driver at Gongbei Port (immigration checkpoint) on August 27.
In the statement, Gongbei Customs identified the smuggler as a Macau resident surnamed Choi.
On that day, the statement said, Choi drove a Guangdong-Macau dual-plate vehicle into the mainland through the checkpoint.
During a routine inspection, customs officers noticed an abnormality in the vehicle’s boot and carried out a focused inspection. Hidden inside the spare tyre compartment, beneath the driver’s and front passenger’s seats, in the seat-back storage pockets, and inside the front passenger’s glove compartment, officers discovered 62 boxes of cigars plus one loose bag, totalling 1,234 cigars.
Gongbei Customs reminded the public that tobacco products are restricted items for entry into the Chinese mainland. According to relevant regulations, frequent border crossers (those entering the mainland more than once within 15 days) are allowed a duty-free allowance of 40 cigarettes (including heated cigarettes), or two cigars, or 40 grams of pipe tobacco each time they enter the mainland.
Macau Customs seizes 1 tonne of chicken feet
Macao Customs Service officers raided a parallel-trading den in the peninsula’s northern district on Thursday where they seized 1,000 kg of frozen chicken feet worth around 13,000 patacas in total.
According to Friday’s statement, customs officers detained for questioning a 58-year-old local female who ran the den and had hired parallel traders to smuggle frozen chicken feet from Macau to the Chinese mainland.
The suspect faces a fine in compliance with the relevant provisions listed in the External Trade Law, the statement said.
Moreover, the statement added, the suspect violated the Food Safety Law as the supposedly frozen chicken feet were actually stored merely at room temperature, adding that the Macau Customs Service has meanwhile transferred the case to the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) for follow-up action.
Meanwhile, as the business premises in question did not possess a valid operating licence, the case has been referred to the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) for follow-up.
This undated handout photo provided by Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs on Saturday shows cigars seized by its officers at Gongbei Port on August 27.
This handout photo released by the Macau Customs Service on Friday shows chicken feet weighing 1 tonne in total, stored at room temperature, at a parallel trading den in the Macau peninsula’s northern district on Thursday.
