A 34-year-old man was arrested and four lorries have been impounded at Lung Kwu Tan in the largest smuggling case by value.

Herman Lui Siu-fai, divisional commander of the Customs and Excise Department's special investigation division, said they targeted an organized smuggling syndicate active since June and conducted a joint operation overnight with the marine police on September 23.

The smuggled goods were from all over the world and were headed for the mainland, Lui said at a press briefing yesterday.

"The goods were stored in a hidden warehouse in Lung Kwu Tan," he said. "They would be smuggled to the mainland by speedboats late at night after repackaging," he said.

About 100 officers raided the warehouse in the early hours of September 24 and seized 11,000 high-value goods, including handbags and watches worth up to HK$340,000 each, and 4,800 electronic devices.

Twelve tonnes of expensive ingredients, including 9.7 tonnes of shark fins worth HK$110 million, were taken.

Lui said the fins were removed from 15,000 sharks, including thresher sharks, an endangered species on the government's control list.

Some endangered plants, including sand dollar cactus, star rock and artichoke cactus, were found in the warehouse, Lui said.

The 34-year-old man, who was suspected to be the manager of the warehouse, was arrested but has been released on bail.

Mark Woo Wai-kwan, head of customs' Syndicate Crimes Investigation Bureau, said the mainland government is charging high tariffs and value-added tax, and the seized goods would have been taxed between 100 and 400 percent across the border.

The criminals could have avoided paying HK$200 million, Woo said.