Hong Kong Customs detects largest smuggling case on record

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong Customs said Thursday it had detected a suspected speedboat smuggling case last month, the largest one detected by the Customs on record in terms of the seizure value.

The Customs said it seized a batch of suspected smuggled goods with an estimated market value of about 210 million Hong Kong dollars (about $26.9 million), including high-value goods, expensive food ingredients and endangered species.

Customs targeted an organized smuggling syndicate active in Lung Kwu Tan since June this year and conducted a joint enforcement operation with the Marine Police's Small Boat Division on Sept 23.

Customs officers and Marine Police officers spotted several suspicious men moving cartons from a lorry to a speedboat at a seashore in Lung Kwu Tan. The officers then took action and those men immediately jumped onto the speedboat and fled.

Customs officers seized a lorry suspected to be connected with the case at the scene. After a follow-up investigation, Customs officers raided a storehouse in the vicinity and further seized three lorries suspected to be connected with the case and a large batch of suspected smuggled goods.

During the operation, a 34-year-old man and four lorries suspected to be in connection with the case were arrested and detained respectively.

An investigation is ongoing. The arrested man has been released on bail pending further investigation, and further arrests are not ruled out.

Under Hong Kong's Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting an endangered species without a license is liable to a maximum fine of 10 million Hong Kong dollars (about $1.28 million) and imprisonment for 10 years.