Foreigners told to comply with laws

National

ASIANS doing business must comply with the laws of the country, says senior Committal Court magistrate Cosmas Bidar.
Bidar made the statement at the Waigani Committal Court yesterday when transferring to the district court the case of five Chinese men charged with making and smuggling into Port Moresby fake cigarettes worth more than K100,000 last year.
Zhaodong Zeng, Huiyi Lin, Lele Li, Kaiwen Ling and Shenghiai Wuu, all from Fujiang in mainland China, will return to court on Tuesday.
The court was notified by the lawyer representing the five that Lin was attending to their business in Kerema, Gulf, and was absent from in court. Bidar said that Asians, who were in the country to do business, should obey the laws of the country by appearing in person.
The court heard that on April 6, Zhaodong Zeng gave the same reason and was not present in court and the matter was adjourned to today for arraignment.
Their case was transferred to the district court on the request of Public Prosecutor to have the case dealt with summarily.
Police alleged that on Aug 17, 2016, at Green Finger Estate in the Gordon industrial area, the five converted 26 cartons and 35 loose inners of Double Happiness cigarettes to Cambridge cigarettes branding inside the L&G Trading Building.
It was alleged that the counterfeit cigarettes were not good for health and  subject to seizure by Customs.