Over K4m worth of contraband smuggled in

A man from the Fujian province in China recently pleaded guilty in court for being in possession of counterfeit cigarettes, valued at more than K4 million.

Lin Zhong was arrested and charged on January 16th for being in possession of smuggled goods, namely contraband double happiness cigarettes valued at K4.18 million.

The items, kept in a 20ft container, were discovered at the Nine-Mile Plaza in Port Moresby last year.

418 cartons of double happiness cigarettes had false declaration when it passed through customs check.

He was apprehended and charged under section 149 (3) of the PNG Customs Act on September 7th, 2018.

On that day, PNG customs officers intervened while he was opening the 20ft container and unloading the cigarettes to a vehicle.

Lin is the managing director of Zhong Ren Ltd, a shop located inside Nine-Mile plaza. He pleaded guilty to the charge in court on Friday.

With the market value of the cigarettes at K4.18 million, it is estimated the state was defrauded revenue of more than K1.7 million in duties and tax.

He is on a K5,000 bail and is expected to return to court in a week’s time for the court to hand down his penalty.

His passport has been confiscated by the court until his case comes to an end.

Author: 
Sally Pokiton