Yesterday, immigration officers raided Chun Lung Shop on Vernon Street, and while they didn’t find any human traffic – what they found surely made the Customs Department happy. Contraband cigarettes with a retail value of over $50,000 were found inside the warehouse. That includes dozens of cartons and boxes of Winston, Wall Street and Benson and Hedges cigarettes. In total, the contraband smokes value $63,000 - so the Customs fine is three times that, $189,000.
And this morning, the two proprietors of the store, 32-year-old Bijin Zhong and 38-year-old shopkeeper Jianneng Mai were arraigned on one count each of recklessly harboring uncustomed goods, and recklessly acquiring uncustomed goods. Each count carries a fine equivalent to triple the value, so the combined fine for both charges is a whopping $379,459.
They both pleaded not guilty and were bailed for $10,000. They were represented by Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley. The case was adjourned until December 28th.
