In a joint operation on Tuesday, the police and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department found the meat at an unlicensed warehouse on Mai Po Lung Road, Lok Ma Chau.

The arrested man was suspected to be the manager of the warehouse. He was arrested for operating an unlicensed cold store, and is detained for questioning.

Police believed the warehouse had started operating on June 1 this year. Officers are still investigating the source of the frozen meat found there, and do not rule out the possibility that they were smuggled.

FEHD said 70 tonnes of the meat did not come with certificates to prove their hygiene. They will be destroyed.

Last week cops and officers from the department also mounted a joint operation, where they seized around 1,700 tonnes of smuggled frozen meat worth over HK$500 million at a container yard in Tuen Mun.

Police also found 150 containers with freezing functions and two modified speedboats with extra engines installed, leading to the arrest of a 40-year-old triad member who was suspected to be the manager there.