Customs have foiled a transnational cigarette smuggling attempt in Kwai Chung, arresting one man and seizing 13 million illicit cigarettes, the largest seizure this year.

Customs officers yesterday inspected two containers whose declarations said they were carrying wooden furniture from a ship from Malaysia. Instead, they found 1,292 boxes of duty-not-paid cigarettes inside, worth $18 million with a duty potential of $10 million.

A 36-year-old freight-transport company director was arrested in the operation. Customs believed the cigarettes were destined for Europe.