Chinese Smuggler to be sentenced in PNG

PNG's Waigani District Court  will hand down its sentence on a Chinese national, charged with possessing smuggled goods, next Friday, February 8.

Lin Zhong, of Fujian Province in China was charged a fortnight ago, for possessing contraband Double Happiness Cigarettes, under Section 149(3) of the PNG Customs Act.

Its alleged that in September 2018, at the 9 Mile Plaza, the accused and others opened a 20 feet container, containing 418 cartons of illegal cigarette, estimated to be valued at over K4m.

They were in the process of loading the cigarettes to distribute when PNG Customs officers intervened and confiscated the contraband cigarettes.

The accused is the owner of Zhong Ren Limited at the 9 Mile Plaza.

Upon search of the ownership of the vehicle at the Central Traffic Registry, the accused was identified as the owner of the vehicle. Its alleged that the 418 cartons of illegal cigarettes had false declaration of dishcloth, toilet papers, plastic smack box and grass rake, when it by-passed Customs check.

The defendant's counsel asked for a minimal penalty, while the prosecution asked for a tougher penalty, saying this is a serious offence and imposes a threat to genuine importers like the British American Tobbaco, which pay a lot of money as tax to the State.

NBC News/PNG Today