Gwangju Customs seized 200,000 packs of counterfeit cigarettes worth 900 million won using a 'curtaining' concealment method
A smuggler who concealed contraband inside shipping containers by stacking legitimate cargo at the entrance — a technique known as "curtaining" — has been caught by customs authorities.
Gwangju Customs said Thursday it arrested a suspect identified only as A on charges of violating the Customs Act and the Trademark Act in September and referred the case to the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (now the Gwangju District Public Prosecution Office).
A is accused of smuggling 200,000 packs of cigarettes worth 900 million won ($674,000) hidden inside container cargo that arrived at Gwangyang Port on two separate occasions this year. The seized goods included 90,000 packs of counterfeit ESSE cigarettes — one of South Korea's leading domestic cigarette brands — along with 10,000 packs of a Chinese cigarette brand.
The bust came through a combination of thorough intelligence analysis and precision scanning using advanced equipment by the customs investigation team.
The team obtained a tip in March and cracked the case on-site by analyzing real-time cargo entry data and X-ray scanner images of the containers. The operation turned out to be an organized crime scheme in which an overseas professional smuggling network recruited a domestic importer.
A was offered 20 million won per successful delivery by a supplier based in Laos, and served as the domestic ringleader — filing false import declarations listing cigarettes as charcoal under a sole proprietorship, then storing and managing the goods in a warehouse after clearing customs.
During the investigation, authorities found that A had also smuggled 100,000 packs of cigarettes in January using the same false-declaration method, receiving 20 million won that was spent on debt repayment and living expenses.
Kim Ki-pyo, head of the investigation division at Gwangju Customs, said the case was an example of overseas smugglers drawing financially vulnerable domestic importers into criminal activity. Kim urged anyone approached with a smuggling proposal to report it immediately to the Korea Customs Service's smuggling report center at 125, which offers reward payments to informants.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
