{"id":143990,"date":"2025-11-20T02:19:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T02:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/143990\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T02:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T02:19:11","slug":"1-5-million-illicit-cigarettes-seized-in-raids-across-auckland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/143990\/","title":{"rendered":"1.5 million illicit cigarettes seized in raids across Auckland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two men have been arrested and 1.5 million cigarettes seized in an illegal tobacco bust in Auckland.<\/p>\n

Customs, assisted by police, executed a series of raids at five storage facilities and private residences across the city. <\/p>\n

The searches uncovered 1.5 million cigarettes and $500,000 in cash. <\/p>\n

Customs estimated the cigarettes amounted to $2.2 million in evaded taxes. <\/p>\n

A 36-year-old Chinese national working as an accountant and a 43-year-old Malaysian national currently in New Zealand on a work visa were arrested. <\/p>\n

\"Some<\/p>\n

Some of the illegal cigarettes seized by police and customs. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Both men appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday, facing several charges relating to illicit tobacco. <\/p>\n

Charges included possession of uncustomed goods and defrauding Customs revenue. <\/p>\n

Both men were remanded in custody until their next court appearance. <\/p>\n

Chief customs officer for fraud and prohibition Nigel Barnes said the bust was part of active monitoring and investigation of the rise in large-scale tobacco smuggling. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent months, Customs has taken enforcement action against several individuals involved in illicit tobacco activities, with smuggling attempts seen through air, sea, and mail channels. <\/p>\n

“Those looking to take advantage should know we\u2019re committed to catching and prosecuting offenders – and recovering what doesn\u2019t belong to them,” he said. <\/p>\n

\"Authorities<\/p>\n

Authorities also seized around $500,000 in cash. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

In September, 1News revealed over 3 million individual cigarettes<\/a> have been caught at the border in 2025 so far. This latest seizure increases that number dramatically. <\/p>\n

Barnes said tobacco smuggling had a “financial impact” on communities across New Zealand. <\/p>\n

“Tax evasion reduces revenue that supports essential public services for New Zealanders. The amount seized \u200b\u200brepresents a substantial loss in tax contributions. <\/p>\n

“Customs will continue to prioritise and combat this type of crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including stalking bill passes through parliament, phone ban in class working, and Metallica deliver a Kiwi classic. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two men have been arrested and 1.5 million cigarettes seized in an illegal tobacco bust in Auckland. Customs,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,67,111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-143990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-auckland","9":"tag-crime-and-justice","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}