Hong Kong Customs seized about 494 kilogrammes of dried seahorses from three 20-foot containers arriving from Peru during a two-day operation on January 15 and 16. The total seizure value was about $1 million.
Customs officers, through risk assessment, inspected two 20-foot containers declared to contain "wet salted leather" arriving from Paita of Peru on January 15. The X-ray images of the two containers were suspicious that some objects were being concealed in the leather placed at the innermost part of the containers. Upon searching the leather in the containers, Customs officers found about 322 kilogrammes of dried seahorses in six plastic bags placed between layers of the leather with a view to evading Customs inspection. On the following day, Customs officers unveiled another smuggling case with similar modus operandi. A total of 172 kilogrammes in three plastic bags of dried seahorses were found in a container declared to contain "wet salted leather" arriving from Callao of Peru.
The dried seahorses were not declared on the manifests nor covered by licence and were seized by Customs officers for further investigation. Follow-up action is still on-going to locate the suspected smuggling syndicate members.
Hong Kong Customs has long been committed to combating the smuggling of endangered wildlife, and will continue taking vigorous enforcement actions against such kind of smuggling activities.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing unmanifested cargoes is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
In addition, under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of trading endangered species for commercial purposes is liable to a maximum fine of $5 million and imprisonment for two years.
Ends/Thursday, January 16 2014
