Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Thursday, Dec 12, 2024

New tactics, same game as Hong Kong-mainland meat smugglers resurface

New tactics, same game as Hong Kong-mainland meat smugglers resurface

Hong Kong customs officers seized 224 tonnes of frozen meat worth HK$35 million in first half of this year.

Brazen cross-border smugglers have made a comeback and are suspected of moving more than 100 tonnes of frozen meat every night from Hong Kong to mainland China, the Post has learned.

Customs officers have kept up pressure on them, confiscating 224 tonnes of frozen meat worth nearly HK$35 million (US$4.5 million) in the first half of this year, almost two-thirds more than in the same period last year.

Over the past four weeks, police and customs officers foiled three smuggling operations, seizing 139 tonnes of meat worth HK$16 million and arresting 16 people.

Law enforcement sources said the illegal activities aimed at evading mainland Chinese tariffs and import restrictions have recently emerged in Hong Kong’s southern waters, away from an area patrolled by two Chinese coastguard gunboats.

Mainland authorities deployed the gunboats to patrol the area near the city’s western and northeastern waters since February to deter smugglers and discourage people from sneaking across the border.

Smugglers suspended their activities in February and March, but in April, police and customs officers seized 48 tonnes of frozen meat worth HK$9.2 million and arrested three men on a mainland-bound fishing boat intercepted off Po Toi Island, south of Hong Kong.

Customs officers display 35 tonnes of smuggled frozen meat seized in January.


In June, the smugglers were back in action, this time using cargo vessels equipped with cranes as floating warehouses.

“We believe they can pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars from a single night’s smuggling operations,” a source said.

The Post learned that recent smuggling jobs usually involved three vessels equipped with cranes, which were first packed with bags of frozen meat at public cargo loading areas in Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan or Yau Ma Tei.

Each 30-metre cargo boat can carry 50 to 60 tonnes, and the smugglers use different loading areas to evade detection.

The laden vessels then wait along Hong Kong’s southern waters at night for speedboats to arrive from the mainland and pick up the goods.

“At least five speedboats are deployed as lookouts and carry out counter-surveillance against law enforcers,” the source said.

Speedboats powered by four to six outboard engines then pick up the frozen meat from the cargo vessels, with each speedboat able to take 10 to 12 tonnes.

Another source said it took about 20 minutes for a speedboat to enter Hong Kong waters, get loaded and leave.

“In our recent surveillance operations, about 10 speedboats were seen crossing into the city’s waters in one night to pick up goods,” he said.

He said the smugglers usually worked between 11pm and 1am on several days each week, and Hong Kong authorities were investigating if the same syndicate was behind the illegal activities.

Both sources said the smugglers were now operating on a smaller scale than in 2020 and last year, when more than 100 speedboats and 20 to 30 barges were involved every night and more than 1,000 tonnes of frozen meat was moved daily.

Incidents of smuggling by sea surged during the coronavirus pandemic, as multiple land border checkpoints have been closed since 2020 and mainland shoppers could not visit Hong Kong.

The frozen meat comprises mainly beef, pork and offal from South America, North America and Europe.

Customs officers seized 3,344 tonnes worth HK$149 million in 2020, up 232 per cent from 1,005 tonnes worth HK$66 million in 2019. The seizures dropped to 347 tonnes last year amid stringent enforcement action.

The death of a female police officer during a high-speed pursuit of smugglers at sea last September also prompted Hong Kong and mainland authorities to step up action against cross-border smugglers.

After lying low for several months, the smugglers reappeared in January, and were using cargo vessels in two operations foiled by local authorities who seized more than HK$17 million worth of frozen meat.

The smugglers suspended their illegal activities in February and March, after Chinese authorities sent the two coastguard gunboats to patrol mainland waters near Hong Kong to deter people crossing the border illegally.

The second source said smugglers kept changing tactics in a cat-and-mouse game.

The Customs and Excise Department said its officers conducted checks on passengers, cargo, postal packets and conveyances at various control points and at sea to combat the smuggling of contraband, including frozen meat, and pledged to keep up stringent enforcement of the law.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×