Two men and a woman have been sentenced after smuggling nearly half a million cigarettes into the country and evading taxes.
Chean Wei Puah, Min Shein Yau, and Wai Lee Lock — who are all Malaysian nationals — were convicted in the Auckland District Court today for defrauding Customs' revenue, importing prohibited goods, the sale of uncustomed goods, using forged documents, and participating in an organised criminal group.
The trio have been remanded in custody and are on electronically monitored bail. They will serve home detention sentences until they are deported.
Customs began investigating in May 2023 after a New Zealand company discovered their address was used on importation documents without their knowledge, the New Zealand Customs Service said today in a media release. The import was linked to the Malaysian trio who had arrived in New Zealand as visitors several weeks prior.
Further investigations showed the men had also falsified import documents by using the names of legitimate companies and directing tobacco shipments to a residential address and a storage unit in Auckland.
Customs discovered two consignments containing 481,640 cigarettes — representing approximately $675,000 in revenue evasion — after search warrants were carried out in June 2023.
Chief customs officer - fraud and prohibited Nigel Barnes said this is Customs' first successful conviction for participating in an organised crime group for a tobacco prosecution.
"This was a calculated fraud by an international group who intended to rip New Zealand off. Illicit tobacco is not a victimless crime. It takes money out of our communities and puts it into the pockets of criminals," Barnes said.
"We urge anyone who knows of someone or suspects someone who is dealing in the illegal tobacco trade to contact Customs via Border Protect, our 24-hour confidential hotline."
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