"Now with warm applause, we would like to welcome our new Director of Security, Lei Weidong, to the stage to speak." The policewoman who guest-hosted the event said loudly into the microphone.
Amid warm applause, Lei Weidong stood up and walked onto the stage. Compared with yesterday, the epaulets on Lei Weidong's shoulders had changed from Assistant Director to Senior Assistant Director.
He became one of the only four senior assistant commissioners in the police force, and officially became a senior police officer and became a boss.
"Thank you to the director for your trust and promotion, and also to my brothers for their hard work and support. Without your hard work, I would not be able to reach this position. Thank you very much."
When Lei Weidong took the stage, he first thanked his subordinates at the West Kowloon Police Station.
Because the conference was held at the police station, not many of Lei Weidong's subordinates were present. Only senior police officers such as Ya Zi, Jian Huizhen, Bai Kailun, Li Ying, Ma Jun, Uncle Biao, Li Zhongguang, and instructor Hu were present.
Other police officers such as Fang Zheng, Guo Haihua, Yin Mingyang, Song Zijie, Zhou Xingxing and other police officers, accompanied by Chen Yalun and other women, had a promotion banquet at the most luxurious Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong.
The CHT hostage incident was a big deal and a disaster for many people, but it was a great joy for the West Kowloon Police Station. Except for Lei Wai-tung, who was changed from Assistant Commissioner to Senior Assistant Commissioner, the rest of the people who were in the CHT were Those present were all rewarded.
Those at the level of inspector are promoted one or two levels, and those above the level of inspector are either promoted or rewarded with medals. It can be said that everyone has a share.
Not to mention the promotion banquet.
In addition to Lei Weidong, Uncle Biao, Instructor Hu, Li Ying and others are also hosting it. It can be said that the police officers of the West Kowloon Police Station are either on their way to a job banquet this week or holding their own promotion banquet.
Bang bang bang bang!
Although there are not many police officers in the West Kowloon Police Station, everyone is clapping their hands crazily and their boss is speaking. Even though he will no longer be in the West Kowloon Police Station, the position of the Director of Operations is higher and he is responsible for all operations. The boss of the department’s police officers must provide support.
Led by them, the audience's applause resounded through the sky and almost toppled the roof.
"No more gossip, I will just say one thing, that is, I, Lei Weidong, fight against crime for one day in the police force." Lei Weidong, who hates long speeches, simply said a few words and concluded with one sentence.
"Bah bang bang!"
Lei Weidong's speech ended in less than half a minute, and everyone present gave him warm applause. It seems that everyone is deeply harmed by long speeches, even leaders.
"Uncle Biao, West Kowloon will be left to you from now on." Seeing Uncle Biao and Li Zhongguang talking together, Lei Weidong walked over with a wine glass and signaled to Uncle Biao.
"Leave West Kowloon to me, Adong, what do you mean?" Lei Weidong's words made Uncle Biao feel happy.
As an old man who came from the Leile era, Uncle Biao has reached the age of retirement. If he is not promoted, he will serve as the commander of Yau Tsim District for at most one year before retiring.
If he can take the position of director of the West Kowloon General Administration, he can still work for four or five years, and his retirement salary will be much higher after retirement.
Unlike the Superintendent, the Assistant Commissioner is already a high-ranking member of the police force and enjoys the same level of treatment as the Chief Superintendent.
"The Director has told me that I will be the one to recommend the position of Director of West Kowloon. I recommended you, Uncle Biao, to the Director. You will be transferred to the West Kowloon Headquarters next week to take up the post of Director." .”
The wine glass in his hand touched lightly with Uncle Biao and others, and Lei Weidong drank it down with a smile.
"Ah Tong, I am about to retire. As the commander of Yau Tsim District, I am a little overwhelmed. I am afraid that I will not be able to do well when I serve as the director of the General Administration."
His own family knows his own affairs. Although Uncle Biao wants to be promoted and make a fortune, he knows his own abilities. If it weren't for the help of two capable people in Yau Tsim District, Instructor Hu and Chen Jiaju, he might have made a mess.
"Uncle Biao, if you think the position of director is troublesome, you can call a few helpers. Chen Jiaju is good. You can bring him and Dazui to the general administration to help you calm down.
And Police Officer Li is also a capable person. I recommend him to serve as the deputy director of the West Kowloon General Administration. I will just let him assist in management matters. "
"Officer Li, I won't bother you anymore." Hearing that Li Zhongguang was also going to the headquarters, Uncle Biao greeted him warmly.
Everyone is not a fool.
Lei Weidong transferred Li Zhongguang to the General Administration as the deputy director to assist Uncle Biao in his work and asked him to take over Uncle Biao's work. This was obviously a deliberate decision. Because Uncle Biao was about to retire, and there was an age difference of more than ten years between Li Zhongguang and him, the two of them worked together, so there was no need to worry about one of them being power-hungry, while the other was eager to take over and cause a mess in the West Kowloon General Administration.
Li Zhongguang, who has the advantage of age, can use three or four years to lay a solid foundation in West Kowloon, and when he really takes over in a few years, he can make a big splash.
"Director, I am very happy to let me serve as deputy director of the General Administration. But what will happen to Kowloon District in the future? The current deputy commander cannot control the overall situation." Li Zhongguang asked.
"Zhu Huabiao has been with me for so many years, and it's time for him to take over. I transferred him to the Kowloon District as the commander. At the same time, I sent Miao Zhiyu and Fan Jiao there to assist him, plus Fang Zheng and Fang Zheng of the Kowloon District Heavy Duty Team. Guo Haihua from the black group, I believe there will be no problems.
As for Yau Tsim District, I plan to let Hui Yinghong take over Instructor Hu's position, and Uncle Biao's position will be taken over by Karen. I will also send Chen Yalun, Zhou Xingxing and Song Zijie to assist. I believe there will be no problem. "
"Follow the director's orders!" Seeing Lei Weidong's careful consideration, Uncle Biao and others looked at each other and said at the same time.
"Officer Lei, long time no see!" Lei Weidong, Uncle Biao and others were chatting happily. Han Zhibang, holding a wine glass, intervened. "Time flies so fast. The little policeman back then has become the director of the operations department."
"Yes, more than ten years have passed in the blink of an eye." Lei Weidong nodded and said, "You must be close to me. You should be the second-in-command of the ICAC now."
"I just have an age advantage, and I'm far behind you compared to Officer Lei." Han Zhibang shook his head, saying that his grades were not as good as Lei Weidong's.
Because although he is the second most powerful person in the ICAC, he is actually just a knife above and must obey orders.
Unlike Lei Weidong.
He has transformed from a sword into a sword wielder and is qualified to play chess.
"Officer Lei, I came here to invite you to a meeting. Director Cao has already passed and is waiting for you." After chatting for a while, Han Zhibang stated his intention.
"There's another meeting. Why are there so many meetings in the office? It's much more than when we were in West Kowloon." Hearing that there was a meeting, Lei Weidong had a headache.
In the past, I only knew that there were many meetings in the Mainland, and there were meetings almost every day. But now I know that there are also many meetings in Xiangjiang, especially in units like the Police Department. They are either in meetings or on the way to meetings all day long.
If I know this again, I will stay in the West Kowloon Police Station and push others to the top.
"I can't help it. That's how it is in the department. Officer Lei, you are the boss in West Kowloon, so of course you don't know much about it. You won't be able to do it when you get to the police station. You will gradually get used to it."
Hearing Lei Weidong complain about the meeting, Han Zhibang laughed.
The meeting took place in a small office on the top floor of the police station.
There were not many people involved, only five people, but each of them was a big shot in each department. On the police side, they were Director Cao Dahua, Director of Operations Lei Weidong, and on the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the second-in-command Han Zhibang.
The remaining two are the Commissioner of Revenue and the Director of the Trade Administration Branch.
"Everyone, today's meeting is mainly discussing the increasingly rampant tobacco smuggling problem in Xiangjiang." Seeing that everyone had arrived, Cao Dahua stood up and said,
"Speaking of cigarettes, I believe everyone is familiar with them. There are several smokers sitting here who smoke cigarettes every day."
"hehe!"
The director of the tax bureau and the director of the trade management office who were smoking laughed awkwardly when they heard this.
"Cigarettes have penetrated deeply into people's lives. Don't look down upon Xiangjiang. The number of cigarettes consumed every day is an astronomical figure. Not only does the amount far exceed that of washing powder, which is more harmful, but the profit also far exceeds."
"It's unlikely that the profit will exceed that of washing powder. You must know that any washing powder that can enter Xiangjiang has several times or even ten times the profit." Lei Weidong expressed disbelief when he heard that the profit of cigarettes exceeded that of washing powder.
"I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see the data, but the reality is that the profit from cigarettes is far greater than that from washing powder. Now let Mr. Henry from the tax bureau tell you how profitable cigarettes can be."
“Because there are so many people smoking, Hong Kong’s tax on tobacco is very high. It was just raised some time ago, raising the tax rate for each cigarette not exceeding 90 mm from the current HK$1.706 to HK$1.906.
Usually calculated as 20 cigarettes per box and 10 boxes per carton, the tax on each carton of cigarettes will increase by HK$40 after the revision. "
"Wait a minute, Mr. Henry, you mean the tax rate per cigarette is HK$1.906, which means the tax per pack of cigarettes is HK$38."
Because he does not smoke and is a rich man, Lei Weidong is not sensitive to the price of Xiangjiang. Now after listening to Henry, he discovered that the tax in Xiangjiang is much higher than that in the mainland. Every cigarette costs 1.9 yuan to the government.
"Yes!"
Henry nodded and continued, "In addition to cigarettes, there are also regulations for other tobacco. The tax rate for cigars is HK$2,455 per kilogram, the tax rate for mainland cooked cigarettes is HK$68 per kilogram, and the tax rate for all other manufactured tobacco is HK$2,309 per kilogram.
At the same time, it is also stipulated that the length of a cigarette is 90 mm. As long as it exceeds 90 mm, no matter how much you exceed, even if it is 1 mm, it will be treated as another cigarette and taxed. "
"With such a high tax rate, Hong Kong Island already earns a lot of money from cigarettes every day." Lei Weidong continued to ask.
“From January to June this year, that is, the first half of the year, Hong Kong Island’s tobacco tax revenue was approximately HK$4 billion, accounting for approximately 4% of the entire revenue, but there is one thing to note.
There are a large number of smuggled cigarettes and black cigarettes on the market. According to surveys, 1/3 or even 1/2 of the cigarettes smoked by Hong Kong residents are illicit cigarettes, which costs the government billions of Hong Kong dollars every year.
Gentlemen, this number is too great and has already affected the operation of the government, so we must intensify our crackdown on tobacco smuggling. "
"This shouldn't have much to do with our police. Cigarette smuggling should be a customs matter." Lei Weidong expressed his understanding of the above-mentioned crackdown on cigarette smuggling.
Because the benefits are so great, they amount to billions or even tens of billions a year, which has exceeded the transaction limit of washing powder.
In the past, the higher-ups might not have cared about it, because all the money was divided up by various people and even many people from the Eagle Country, so they just turned a blind eye.
Now!
The people of the Eagle Country were about to leave, so they naturally had to search vigorously.
As long as they don't let go of billions or even tens of billions of income a year, this amount of money is really too much, too much to imagine.
"Combating smuggling is a customs issue. I originally wanted to invite Customs Director Guan Haishan to come over for a meeting today, but Commissioner Han vetoed it. Commissioner Han, come and explain to everyone."
Cao Dahua looked at Han Zhibang and said.
"OK!"
Han Zhibang nodded, stood up and said, "According to our investigation, there are generally two types of cigarette smuggling in the market, one is zero-order smuggling.
The characteristic of this smuggling model is that there are many people involved in smuggling a small amount of cigarettes. There may only be a few boxes or even dozens of cigarettes at a time. They are mainly transported into Xiangjiang through personal transportation.
As for the people involved, many are ordinary citizens with no criminal records. Some of them are sailors on cargo ships and employees of transportation companies.
There are even tourists who visit Hong Kong. They usually bring cigarettes into Hong Kong in their boxes or other inconspicuous places.
This small-scale smuggling was not investigated at all because the investment cost was too high and the smugglers did not commit a crime. Even if they were caught, the tobacco would only be confiscated. It can be said that the investment is not proportional to the harvest.
Another smuggling model is large tobacco smuggling syndicates.
According to our investigation, Lida Trading Group, which conducts tobacco import and export trade, is highly suspected. We suspect that this company colludes with the customs to conduct large-scale cigarette smuggling. "
"Colluding with customs!"
Han Zhibang's words made everyone stunned. Why did the smuggling in Xiangjiang involve the customs?
But if you think about it carefully, it is really inseparable from the customs.
Not to mention small-scale smuggling.
Everyone knows the current situation in Xiangjiang. Tobacco smuggling is definitely inseparable from associations, because only associations can organize so many people to smuggle in Xiangjiang.
As for the supply of goods!
No need to ask.
They are either smuggled from the mainland or from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and other places, and the profits are definitely not as high as the tax bureau said.
Because if it were really that high, the association would not focus on washing powder and supplement it with tobacco.
The reason is also easy to understand.
Unlike washing powder, cigarettes sell in quantity, which means they are cheaper and sell more.
Regular cigarettes are sold in large supermarkets and regular stores. Because the tax is too high, the cheapest pack of cigarettes costs more than 50. There is no way, the tax is nearly 40.
Smuggled cigarettes cannot enter large supermarkets or chain stores and can only be sold at street stalls and mobile vendors.
Because everyone knows that the cigarettes are smuggled, the price cannot be too high. They are much cheaper than regular stores. A pack of cigarettes costs more than 50 yuan, and the roadside stalls are estimated to sell them for more than 20 or 30 yuan.
It can’t be too high, because if you sell it too high, you won’t be able to buy it here and buy genuine products.
The profit of a pack of cigarettes is more than ten yuan, excluding the intermediate costs. Although it is profitable, it is much worse than washing powder. In contrast, if smuggling in Xiangjiang wants to make money, it must be done in volume. It not only requires large-scale smuggling, but also has sales channels. Just fine.
