Hong Kong Customs yesterday (April 29) detected a sea-bound cargo suspected smuggling case and seized 229 kilogrammes of dried abalones from a container at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound. The total value of the seizure was about $640,000.
Customs officers, through risk assessment, selected for inspection a shipment arriving from South Africa declared as a "case of industrial machine seals and washers". After X-ray examination, officers spotted that there were suspicious items in a big wooden crate. Upon further examination, officers found 12 carton boxes of dried abalones weighing 229 kilogrammes in the wooden crate.
As the dried abalones were not declared on the manifest, they were seized by Customs officers for further investigation.
Hong Kong Customs will continue taking vigorous enforcement actions against 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.
Ends/Wednesday, April 30 2014
