Hong Kong customs seizes 600 million illicit cigarettes in first 9 months of 2026

Hong Kong customs officers seized 600 million illicit cigarette sticks in the first three quarters of this year, the department chief has said as he revealed plans to roll out more advanced contraband detection equipment at additional border checkpoints to ease manpower pressure.Commissioner of Customs and Excise Chan Tsz-tat told a radio programme on Saturday that the seizure amount in the first nine months this year nearly matched the 2025 annual total.He said that of the 600 million sticks seized, 200 million were destined for other locations but were intercepted in Hong Kong after customs received intelligence.“We have around 16,000 cases of illicit cigarette seizures that involved passengers who did not declare they were carrying over 19 sticks of cigarettes,” Chan said.These cases are among the 18,000 illicit cigarette cases customs detected from January to September this year.No serious drug cases were intercepted at the revamped Huanggang Port since it began operations last Monday, the commissioner added.When asked whether customs operations at the revamped Huanggang Port were smooth following long queues amid crowd surges over the Chung Yeung Festival weekend, the customs chief said both passenger and cargo clearance were steady.