Chinese 'Jjaktung' Cigarettes Passed Off as Domestic... Gang Smuggling 120,000 Packs Arrested

Imported counterfeit Chinese cigarettes worth 1.2 billion won
32,000 packs distributed domestically out of 148,000 packs
Continuous attempts to smuggle cigarettes prompt strengthened crackdowns

A group of 10 people who forged Chinese cigarettes as domestic products and smuggled them in large quantities have been arrested.

A group of 10 people who forged Chinese cigarettes as domestic products and smuggled them in large quantities have been arrested.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Incheon Main Customs Office announced on the 4th that it arrested the smuggling ringleader A (60) on charges of violating the Customs Act and Trademark Act, and booked nine accomplices involved in transportation without detention. A and others are suspected of secretly bringing 180,000 packs of Chinese cigarettes (worth about 1.2 billion KRW) into the country through Incheon Port from November 2019 to September last year.

Among the 180,000 packs, 123,000 packs were counterfeit cigarettes forged by imitating KT&G’s "ESSE," and the rest were finished products of Chinese brands. Of the smuggled goods, customs seized 148,000 packs, and 32,000 packs were found to have already been distributed domestically. Customs estimates that the amount of taxes and charges evaded by A and others through this crime is about 600 million KRW.

Customs revealed that A operated a freight forwarding company under another person’s name and falsified trade documents and domestic freight transport documents to smuggle cigarettes in three separate shipments, pretending to import Chinese blankets. They actually imported Chinese blankets and stored them, attempting to evade customs inspections by switching the cargo during inspections.

When the smuggling was detected, A obstructed the customs investigation by presenting a fake suspect unrelated to the case. Customs plans to strengthen crackdowns, as smuggling attempts by criminals aiming for high criminal profits continue.

An official from Incheon Customs stated, "Cigarette smuggling is rampant as people try to avoid the high taxes and charges imposed when importing cigarettes legally," and added, "Since cigarette smuggling causes losses to national finances, we will crack down strongly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.