Hong Kong Customs seized $5 million worth of smuggled electronic products and cracked down on a gang involved in the smuggling yesterday (July 3). Three men and two women were arrested. This is the first smuggling case involving cross-boundary coach detected this year.
Acting on information, Customs officers of the Syndicate Crimes Investigation Bureau has been looking into the gang which smuggled high-value electronic products by cross-boundary coaches. Yesterday afternoon, Customs officers first stopped an outgoing coach at Sha Tau Kok control point. Upon searching, a batch of repacked electronic goods, including cameras and lens, video recorders, batteries and integrated circuits, etc., worth around $1 million, was found from a secret compartment on the floor. The 47-year-old man who drove the coach, suspected to be smuggling the goods, was arrested.
Later, Customs officers raided two units in an industrial building in Sha Tin. In the units which were believed to be re-packing centres for the smuggled goods, two men and one woman were arrested. Around $4 million worth of similar repacked electronic goods were seized. The two arrested men were suspected to be masterminds of the gang who supplied the smuggled goods. Late last night, another woman suspected of involving in the smuggling was arrested in a residential flat in Sha Tin. In the operation, the Customs seized a total of $5 million worth of electronic goods and a private car, and arrested three men and two women, aged between 26 and 56.
A Customs spokesman said today (July 4) that the arrested persons would be charged for smuggling and other related offences. He said that smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, the maximum penalty for exporting unmanifested cargoes is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Ends/Thursday, July 4 2013
