He had his workers padlock the gate to the zone, and locked out the CEO in the process. When the Zone staff broke the lock, the importer reportedly put back another lock - and then parked a towhead behind the gate to block entry into the zone

What's the issue? Well the new CEO of the zone has proposed a surcharge, reportedly 50 cents US on each case of Chinese cigarettes coming into the zone. There's over a thousand cases per container - and the importer who rebelled reportedly brings in more than a dozen containers monthly. So - as he sees it it - the charge would seriously cut into his revenue.

Well, this led to a standoff today - and reports say the police riot squad was activated but not deployed. But, calmer heads prevailed, and both sides agreed to a meeting to discuss the implementation of the fee. The gate was cleared and normal operations resumed. The container of cigarettes was reportedly cleared without the fee being charged at this time.