Twelve Hong Kong suspects alleged of illegal entry to Mainland
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     With regard to the 12 Hong Kong suspects alleged of illegal entry to the Mainland, Police received a reply from Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department yesterday (September 25), stating that Guangdong Coast Guard intercepted a boat suspected of crossing the boundary illegally inside the boundary of waters under their jurisdiction at around 9am on August 23. Officers of the Coast Guard discovered 12 Hong Kong residents on board and they were arrested for the offence of crossing the boundary illegally. After initial investigation, Yantian Branch of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau detained the 12 suspects for further investigation.

     Investigation revealed that the 12 persons boarded on a speedboat arranged by a smuggling syndicate in the Po Toi O pier in Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong at around 7am on August 23. The speedboat was driven by one of the suspects. They planned to flee to Taiwan via Mainland marine waters in order to evade criminal responsibility in Hong Kong. They have paid the syndicate certain fee before boarding the speedboat in Hong Kong for the smuggling arrangements.

     Currently, Yantian Branch of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau is still investigating the case and will submit the case to the Yantian People's Procuratorate in Shenzhen for the arrest approval according to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.

     According to the information provided by Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, and after reviewing Marine Department’s Vessel Traffic Services System and Marine Police’s Digital Radar Security System, it was suspected that the speedboat departed from Po Toi O at around 7am on August 23, and entered Mainland waters through southeastern side of the boundary of Hong Kong waters at around 7.30am on the same day. The speedboat in question later passed through the effective detection range of the systems. The latest detectable time of the speedboat by the Marine Police’s Digital Radar Security System was at around 8am on the same day. The speedboat was 10.9NM outside the boundary of Hong Kong waters and was steering towards southeast direction.

     Besides, the announcement issued by Guangdong Coast Guard stated that at around 9am on August 23, a speedboat suspected of crossing the boundary illegally was intercepted in marine waters under its jurisdiction (21°54'00''N,114°53'00'' E). The announcement mentioned that the location was approximately 26NM off the southeastern side of the boundary of Hong Kong waters.

     Police are investigating in the direction of whether someone organised or committed cross-boundary crimes in the above case.

Ends/Saturday, September 26, 2020
Issued at HKT 19:59

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