Hong Kong Customs today (September 26) mounted an anti-smuggling operation at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point and detected a suspected smuggling case involving a cross-boundary private car. A batch of suspected smuggled high-value food ingredients, including birds' nests, dried abalones, dried fish maws and dried sea cucumbers, with an estimated market value of about $2 million was seized.

     Customs officers today intercepted an outbound private car for inspection at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point. The batch of suspected smuggled high-value food ingredients, weighing about 86 kilograms in total, was seized therein. A 39-year-old male driver suspected to be connected with the case was subsequently arrested.

     An investigation is ongoing.

     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

     Customs will continue to combat cross-boundary smuggling activities with firm enforcement action based on risk assessment and intelligence analysis.

     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Ends/Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Issued at HKT 17:58

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