Customs Officers Seize Smuggled Goods Worth HK$200m

Customs officers on Friday said they had seized smuggled goods worth some HK$200 million in three separate busts in the past month or so.

A total of six people were arrested.

In one instance, river trade vessels were found to be transporting fins of endangered sharks and restricted cancer and Parkinson's drugs to Macau.

At a press briefing, head of Customs' syndicate crimes investigation bureau Cheng Tak-hei said the final intended destination for the goods was probably the mainland and it was unusual for them to be taken to Macau first.

“The seized shark fins and medicines indicate a shift in smuggling methods. In the past, criminals would traffic these goods directly to the mainland with false declarations,” Cheng said.

“However, during this operation, we discovered that the smugglers intentionally mixed these restricted goods with a large quantity of other items that did not require permits for export. This was done in an attempt to deceive the authorities and avoid detection,” he claimed.

Two other seizures involved electronic waste on boats bound for Malaysia.

Cheng said they were investigating whether the three cases are connected.