Customs officers seized 2,710 computer hard disks, worth $2.3 million, in an anti-smuggling operation mounted at Lau Fau Shan, Yuen Long last night (December 13).
Five men, aged between 21 and 61, were arrested.
The Customs officers also seized two radio transceivers and impounded a lorry, a forklift truck and a speedboat.
At about 10.45pm last night, the customs officers of the Marine Strike and Support Division, Special Task Force and Intelligence Bureau laid ambush on shore of Lau Fau Shan.
They took immediate actions when the offenders were loading the smuggled goods quickly from a lorry to a speedboat using a forklift truck.
It is believed that a syndicate was in an attempt to smuggle the computer parts to the Mainland by speedboats before midnight.
To evade Customs investigation, the syndicate had parked a large bulldozer in front of the smuggled goods unloading area and covered up the lorry's brake lights.
It was also believed that the syndicate had made use of the radio transceivers to communicate with their Mainland accomplices.
A spokesman of Customs and Excise Department stressed that the department will stand vigilant and continue to take stringent enforcement against sea smuggling activities.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, smuggling is a serious offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Ends/Friday, December 14, 2007
