Gongbei Customs announced in a statement yesterday that its officers seized 904,600 cigarettes hidden in bogus mattresses.
The statement did not reveal the number of mattresses.
Based on a daily consumption of 20 cigarettes, i.e., one standard pack, the total amount would suffice for 124 years.
According to the statement, on the morning of October 4, Gongbei Customs officers at the outbound cargo inspection area at the Zhuhai checkpoint of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge (HZMB) noticed anomalies through the X-ray scan of a shipment declared as “mattresses and chairs” in a lorry.
A follow–up inspection revealed a large quantity of undeclared cigarettes hidden within specially made mattresses wrapped in orange carboard.
The statement said that an on–site count by customs officers confirmed the seizure of 4,523 cartons of cigarettes, including brands such as Manchester and Cigaronne, totalling 904,600.
Gongbei Customs reminded the public that in line with the Chinese mainland’s Tobacco Monopoly Law the state has implemented a monopoly management system for the production, sale, import, and export of tobacco products, operating under a tobacco monopoly licence system. The export of cigarettes requires approval from the administrative department under the State Council in charge of tobacco monopoly and the acquisition of a tobacco monopoly licence.
This undated handout photo provided by Gongbei Customs yesterday shows its officers checking the smuggled cigarettes seized from a lorry at the outbound cargo inspection area of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) on October 4.
