Hong Kong anti-corruption agency arrests 16 linked to vape shop bribery scheme
Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency has foiled a graft operation involving a local vape shop and delivery workers, who allegedly collected bribes amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.
Advertisement
Eric Chan Cheuk-hay, principal investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, said on Friday that the agency had arrested 16 in connection with the case last month, seizing more than 200,000 vape pens and oil pellets worth over 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,' Chan said.
Hong Kong banned alternative smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, in April 2022 by outlawing the import, sales, promotion, manufacturing, and possession for commercial purposes.
The e-cigarette shop's operations are therefore illegal under the 2022 legal amendment.
Advertisement
The arrests were made last month, after a complaint in mid-2024 triggered a six-month investigation by the agency into the online vape shop's operations.
Those arrested were nine staff members of an established local delivery firm and seven people running an online shop selling vape pens and pellets. Those linked to the shop were a 40-year-old man who led the shop's operations, his parents and wife, as well as three employees.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US president Trump suspends new Chinese and other foreign student visas at Harvard
The administration of United States president Donald Trump has formally barred Harvard University from enrolling international students. The administration has said the institution failed to address national security risks on campus. In a proclamation on Wednesday night, Trump said he would immediately block the Ivy League school from enrolling new international students or exchange visitors. He has also ordered the State Department to review whether the visas of current foreign students should be revoked. The sweeping action came as the Trump administration continued to accuse Harvard of maintaining links with foreign countries, particularly China, which it said posed a national security threat to the United States. 'Hesitant' Hongkongers worry Trump has shattered dreams of studying in US 'The Federal Bureau of Investigation has long warned that foreign adversaries [opponents] and competitors take advantage of easy access to American higher education to, among other things, steal technical information and products, exploit expensive research and development to advance their own ambitions and spread false information for political or other reasons,' the document said. 'Our adversaries, including the People's Republic of China, try to take advantage of American higher education by exploiting the student visa programme for improper purposes and using visiting students to collect information at elite universities in the United States.' The proclamation takes effect immediately and will remain in place for at least six months, according to the White House. The move – along with the State Department's announcement last week that it would 'aggressively' revoke Chinese students' visas – is expected to further deepen tensions between the US and China, whose trade negotiations remain stalled. US president Donald Trump has ramped up his administration's crackdown on higher education. Photo: AFP This is not the first time Chinese students enrolled in advanced science and engineering programmes have been accused of posing a national security threat. Washington has long-standing concerns that Chinese students may be involved in espionage activities to strengthen Beijing's military capabilities. Harvard currently hosts more than 10,000 international students, making up roughly 30 per cent of its student body, including about 2,000 from China. In a statement, Harvard said that Trump's order 'is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights'. 'Harvard will continue to protect its international students,' it said. More than 1,000 international students in the US have had their visas or legal status revoked The stand-off with Harvard is also part of Trump's broader campaign against elite academic institutions, which began straight after his inauguration in January. Alongside Harvard, other Ivy League institutions like Columbia and Princeton have been under scrutiny for allegedly fostering antisemitism in the wake of widespread pro-Palestinian demonstrations over Gaza. They are now facing substantial federal funding cuts. The showdown with Harvard escalated when the Department of Homeland Security ordered the university to submit detailed records of its international student population – a request the university refused. In response, the department announced in late May that it intended to revoke Harvard's authorisation to enrol international students. Harvard filed a lawsuit challenging the decision, calling the administration's actions politically motivated and damaging to academic freedom. Last week, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the revocation from taking effect.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong police arrest 2, take away 10 at Tiananmen commemoration
Read more about this: Hong Kong police officers arrested two people and took away 10 others on June 4, 2025, as some residents brought flowers and candles to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. More than 100 officers were stationed outside Victoria Park and nearby areas, with barriers set on East Point Road to prevent cars from entering the area where candlelight vigils to commemorate the victims of the June 4, 1989, protests in Beijing had been held over the years.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Paralysed Chinese woman scammed, Taiwanese influencer's death: 5 trending stories
We have selected five Trending in China stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing A paralysed woman in China who fell in love and married a 'doctor' she met during rehabilitation has been left distraught after he disappeared with a loan of more than three million yuan (US$420,000). An influencer in Taiwan who was known for eating cosmetics has died suddenly, possibly from poisoning or heart attack. Photo: SCMP composite/IG@guava_beauty A young beauty products influencer in Taiwan known for niche videos in which she 'consumed' cosmetics has died suddenly.
