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Customs officers yesterday (March 19) found a suspicious local fishing vessel at the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter with some males loading goods in the catch-hold on board the vessel. Till night, the vessel departed from the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter and set sailed towards Hong Kong southeast waters.
When the vessel was heading towards the Mainland and approaching the boundary of administration, Customs Sector Patrol Launch intercepted the vessel in the waters off the Ninepin Group for a search. As a result, three Mainland crews and loads of high-valued goods were found on board the vessel, including computer hard-disks, CCTVs, liquid display monitors, used portable computers and mobile phones at $5.2 million worth.
Since no valid export manifest could be produced by the vessel master to cover the cargo, the vessel master and the two crews were arrested by the Customs. The investigation is underway.
Customs officers believed the seized cargo were destined for Hui Dong, Mainland. Customs officers also found that the smugglers were very tricky by making use of fake registration plates of vessels as camouflage in order to evade detection by the law enforcement agencies.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, smuggling is a serious offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
The Hong Kong Customs will continue to step up enforcement action to stop the inflow of contrabands and to combat sea smuggling activities.
Any person who has any information regarding suspected smuggling activities, please call the 24-hour Customs hotline at 2545 6182.
Ends/Saturday, March 20, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:27
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