Customs seizes illicit pork at Lok Ma Chau (with photo)
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    Customs officers today (December 14) seized from an incoming lorry 27 kilograms of illicit fresh pork, worth $1,080, at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point.

     At about noon, the customs officers intercepted an incoming lorry, declared to be carrying 705 cartons of goods including plastic bags and paints.

     With X-ray scanning equipment, the officers found in the goods compartment of the lorry 27 kilograms of fresh pork without an official certificate.

     A 50-year-old male driver was arrested and the case was handed over to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for follow-up action.

     A spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department reminded cross-boundary drivers that it is an offence to import meat without an official certificate.

     Under the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regulations of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, it is an offence to bring into Hong Kong any meat without an official certificate. The maximum penalty is a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months.

Ends/Friday, December 14, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:43

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