Customs officers in an anti-smuggling operation yesterday afternoon (April 20) intercepted an outbound truck at Lok Ma Chau Control Point and seized unmanifested electronic goods worth about $1.7 million.
Based on intelligence analysis, officers of the Customs Special Task Force conducted the anti-smuggling operation in North District, New Territories. In the operation, officers intercepted an outbound truck declared to be carrying 789 cartons of connectors for inspection at Lok Ma Chau Control Point. In the course of examination, the officers uncovered the unmanifested electronic goods, including 28 tablet computers, 476 digital cameras, 20 digital video cameras and 9,970 mobile phone motherboards, mixed with other manifested goods in order to evade Customs detection.
A 43-year-old man was arrested and will be charged later with attempting to export unmanifested cargo.
The Divisional Commander of the Special Task Force, Ms Tam So-ying, stressed at a press briefing today (April 21) that Customs would continue to trace the network of smuggling syndicates and their modus operandi through intelligence collection to crack down on 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.
The public is urged to report any information on suspected smuggling activities to the 24-hour Customs hotline 2545 6182.
Ends/Wednesday, April 21, 2010
