Customs officers from the Man Kam To Division seized about 1 600 unmanifested computer hard disks from a lorry departing from Hong Kong on July 6.
At about 8.45pm, Customs officers intercepted and searched a lorry, declared to be empty, leaving for Shenzhen via the Man Kam To Control Point. As a result, they found 1 640 computer hard disks, worth about $984,000, concealed inside a false compartment beneath the cargo compartment of the vehicle.
Customs officers arrested a 44-year-old driver, and seized the computer hard disks and impounded the lorry. The seizure was worth about $1.06 million in total.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, the maximum penalty for exporting unmanifested cargo is a fine of $2 million and an imprisonment for seven years.
Any person convicted of the offence "making use of the altered fitting of a vehicle for the purpose of smuggling articles out of Hong Kong" under the Import and Export Ordinance is liable to a maximum penalty of a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
End/Thursday, July 8, 2004