HUANGGANG Customs recently seized 348 cartons of smuggled cigarettes worth more than 3 million yuan (US$456,760) in a freight truck with Shenzhen and Hong Kong license plates, making it the biggest cigarette confiscation case this year, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Tuesday.

According to customs, the freight truck was to exit from Huanggang Checkpoint on Monday and declared carrying a batch of glass bottles. The alarm went off when the vehicle was passing through the automatic checking system, prompting the officers to inspect the vehicle.

Customs officers found that 348 cartons of cigarettes were mixed in with declared glass bottles after an initial inspection, with an estimated worth of more than 3 million yuan. The case has been handed over to the anti-smuggling department for further investigation.

Most smuggling cases are of goods brought from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, whereas cigarettes are generally smuggled from Shenzhen to Hong Kong as heavy taxes are levied on tobacco in Hong Kong to discourage tobacco use. (Zhang Yu)