Cigarette smuggling accounted for around 75 percent of the total number of cases the Customs and Excise Department worked on last year.

In 2025, the department handled more than 38,000 smuggling cases in total, a 24 percent increase from 2024.

Specifically, the number of cigarette smuggling cases rose 36 percent to more than 29,000 and resulted in over 28,000 arrests, a nearly 40 percent increase, while seizures held steady at 600 million sticks.

Commissioner Chan Tsz-tat said syndicates were recruiting travellers to hide cigarettes in their clothes, wheelchairs and strollers and were even making use of schoolchildren.

“We recorded an increase of 41 percent in terms of the number of cross-boundary passengers bringing into Hong Kong excessive cigarettes that is in excess of our existing duty-free concession, which is 19 sticks of cigarettes,” he said.

“We have actually stepped up our enforcement on the front lines and also done a lot of publicity work so that visitors as well as citizens know our requirements in respect of our duty-free concession, as well as the penalties in such cases,” he added.

The number of illicit drug cases fell 29 percent to 961, but seizures rose 19 percent to 7.5 tonnes, led by cannabis, methamphetamine, and ketamine.

Chan noted the number of general smuggling cases was 286, a 22 percent increase, while the estimated value of goods seized amounted to HK$4.2 billion.