Hong Kong anti-corruption agency arrests 16 linked to vape shop bribery scheme
Officers also seize more than 200,000 vape pens and oil pellets worth over HK$20 million
Eric Chan Cheuk-hay, principal investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, said on Friday that the agency had arrested 16 people in connection with the case last month, seizing more than 200,000 vape pens and oil pellets worth more than HK$20 million (US$2.6 million).
“The new law [in 2022] and corresponding policies of the logistics company had made it difficult to send goods to customers. Therefore, they resorted to bribing delivery workers to bypass the company’s checks,” he said.
Hong Kong placed heavy restrictions on alternative smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, in April 2022 by outlawing the import, sale, promotion, manufacturing and possession of the goods for commercial purposes.
The e-cigarette shop’s operations are therefore illegal under the 2022 legal amendment.
The arrests were made after a complaint in mid-2024 triggered a six-month investigation by the agency into the online vape shop’s operations.