Hong Kong customs seized 278 million illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of HK$1.25 billion (US$160.3 million) in more than 80 cases in the first half of the year as part of a cross-regional tobacco smuggling crackdown.

The Customs and Excise Department said on Thursday that it had strengthened cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region to curb the inflow of illicit cigarettes since November last year.

The 278 million contraband cigarettes seized in 84 large-scale cases during the first half were estimated to be worth about HK$1.25 billion, with a duty potential of around HK$920 million, customs added.

Around 49 million cigarettes were uncovered in four large-scale cases involving fishing boats under a joint surveillance operation with mainland Chinese authorities targeting maritime tobacco smuggling syndicates earlier this year.

Lam Chak-lun, acting deputy head of the customs revenue crimes investigation bureau, said that smugglers had shifted from using traditional cargo ships and speedboats to less conspicuous fishing vessels.

Each of these vessels, often disguised with fishing gear and operating among other fishing boats, could carry up to 10 million cigarettes – equivalent to the capacity of a 40-foot container, he said.

Between March and July, Hong Kong and Singapore customs also conducted a joint operation that intercepted 107 million illicit cigarettes hidden in 33 shipping containers arriving from the city state in multiple seaborne smuggling cases.