Customs officers this morning (June 17) in an anti-smuggling operation swooped on a warehouse of a smuggling syndicate in Wong Keng Tei, Sai Kung, seizing high-value electronic products worth about $3 million and arresting a man.
Based on intelligence analysis, officers of the Special Task Force kept surveillance on smuggling activities in Wong Keng Tei and found that several suspected smugglers were conveying goods from a village house to a motorboat on the seashore before transferring the goods to two speedboats stationed in the water nearby.
The officers then took action and seized 235 cartons of electronic goods including 928 notebooks, 1,152 computer hard disks, and 7,760 LCD monitors, worth about $3 million in total. A man was arrested in the village house. The village house is believed to have been used as a warehouse by the smuggling syndicate which attempted to smuggle the goods to the Mainland at night.
The 29-year-old man claimed to be a construction worker. The case is still under investigation.
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.
Members of the public are urged to report any suspected smuggling activities through the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182.
Ends/Thursday, June 17, 2010
