Hong Kong Customs officers have arrested five men and seized 882,680 smuggled cigarettes worth about 1.32 million HK dollars and counterfeit goods worth about 1.6 million HK dollars from two storage and packaging centers in Kwai Chung and Lai Chi Kok, the Customs said Thursday.

The syndicate sells smuggled cigarettes and counterfeit goods through the Internet to buyers in the U.K.. When an order is received, the goods are first sent to Hong Kong from the Mainland, and forwarded to the U.K. by air cargo or parcel, the Customs said.

Of the men, aged 28 to 52, one is believed to be the syndicate mastermind and another is a major ring member. Investigations are underway.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2006)