Covid-19 Pandemic Brings Increase In Sea Smuggling

Hong Kong customs officers say the Covid-19 pandemic has led more smugglers to start moving goods to the mainland by speedboat because they can no longer cross back and forth by road.

This comes as customs and marine police said they arrested two men in Sha Tau Kok on Tuesday night, seizing around 4,700 mobile phones, cosmetics, and 320 boxes of edible birds nest worth around HK$2.6 million. The total haul was worth an estimated HK$23 million.

Seven to eight men were able to escape on speedboats after officers showed up as the goods were being loaded onto vessels at a harbour.

The two men arrested were later released on bail pending further investigations.

Customs officers said because of the Covid-19 outbreak, smugglers have turned to sea transport because access by land is mostly blocked.

They said that so far this year, they have seized HK$150 million worth of goods from 25 sea-based smuggling cases, compared to HK$160 million from 55 cases for the whole of last year.

In 2018, there were 62 such smuggling cases involving some HK$150 million.