Incheon Main Customs said on the 10th it arrested three people, including a Chinese international freight forwarder, who tried to smuggle-export fake Korea-made cigarettes to Australia worth an estimated 1.2 billion won. They were sent to prosecutors without detention on suspicion of violating the Customs Act and the Trademark Act.
The cigarettes seized this time are 200,000 packs of illegal counterfeit products of "Esse," the flagship brand of KT&G, a domestic cigarette corporations. Customs found them by opening and inspecting a container declared with the item name "disposable container" among cargo brought into the bonded area at Incheon Port.
A customs investigation found the suspects routed the shipment through Incheon Port disguised as transshipment cargo to launder the point of origin from China to Korea. They exploited the fact that cargo loaded in Korea is inspected at a significantly lower rate by importing countries than cargo from China or Southeast Asia.
The suspects targeted illicit gains and arbitrage from smuggling, noting that the price of cigarettes in Australia is about 40,000 won per pack, the highest level among countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
A customs official said, "Recently, with the 'K-cigarette boom,' Korea-made cigarettes have gained huge popularity worldwide, and cases of counterfeit cigarettes circulating overseas are increasing," adding, "We will continue to crack down thoroughly on transnational illegal activities occurring at the economic border to protect K-brand rights."