In the past two days, the authorities have cracked down on fake cigarette production in Guangdong and drug smuggling in Hong Kong.
Five fake cigarette production bases were hit and at least 20 suspects detained in the last two days, and customs officers seized 1.5 kg of suspected heroin valued at 550,000 HK dollars (US$70,512) on Wednesday.
In Guangdong, law enforcement personnel seized a large quantity of cigarette production equipment, production lines, tobacco, finished and semi-finished products and plenty of other raw materials worth millions of US dollars during a special action operation.
Jointly organized by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, the Ministry of Public Security and their local counterparts, the actions took place in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and the cities of Huizhou and Dongguan.
Wei Shuqi, deputy director of the Monopoly Sales Department at the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, promised similar operations and campaigns will be launched across the country in the coming months.
He is expecting the success in Guangdong to help set a good example for fighting production and sale of fake cigarettes in other regions.
In Hong Kong, in a joint operation with UK Customs, Hong Kong Customs' Drug Investigation Bureau apprehended a Sierra Leone passenger in transit at Hong Kong International Airport.
According to a government press release on Thursday, the 33-year-old man was found to have internally concealed 1.5 kg of suspected heroin (74 pellets) valued at 550,000 HK dollars (US$70,512). He arrived in Hong Kong from Pakistan via Dubai in transit to Guangzhou.
Suspected of having drugs inside his body, the man was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for observation. He is still being detained for investigation and will be charged with "trafficking in a dangerous drug".
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, drug trafficking is a serious offense with maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of 5 million HK dollars.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2004)
