HK$190mn 'smuggling Syndicate' Smashed, Customs Say

The customs department on Thursday said it has neutralised a family-run syndicate it believes had amassed a fortune by allegedly operating a lucrative cross-border business smuggling frozen US meat to the mainland via Hong Kong, before laundering the proceeds.

At a press conference, customs officers said 13 people aged between 40 and 65 were arrested in a series of raids across the city last Thursday, including the alleged mastermind, his wife, and several relatives.

They believe the group ran a tightly-controlled and well-oiled operation to import frozen meat from the United States – mostly high-end beef products – before repackaging the goods and sending them out in barges to meet up with ships sent down from the mainland in remote waters in the west of Hong Kong.

The contraband, they say, would then be brought to Nansha or Panyu to be sold to mainland buyers.

During the operation last Thursday, officers say they seized 160 tonnes of frozen meat, valued at around HK$25 million, from two boats around Lung Kwu Chau.

Subsequent raids at multiple locations led to the seizures of cash, gold bars, jewellery, watches and valuables worth HK$18 million. Authorities froze a further HK$27 million in the bank accounts of the suspects, and say they are considering applying for a court order to seize eight properties and three parking spaces held by the suspects, worth an estimated HK$120 million.

Altogether, officials said, the case involves HK$190 million dollars in various goods and assets, which would make this the biggest case of its kind in five years.

Grace Tang from the department’s Syndicate Crimes Investigation Bureau said investigators believe the group had laundered proceeds from their alleged smuggling operation through multiple bank accounts and companies, as well as via the purchase of properties and parking spaces.

Bureau chief Mark Woo said there has been a sharp upsurge in the number of suspected frozen-meat-smuggling cases – with 28 such cases this year already, compared to just six for the whole of 2019.

He says there is a very high incentive for people to smuggle meat up north, because they stand to make huge profits by evading taxes worth up to 80 percent of the value of the products.