Hong Kong customs officers seize 40 tonnes of frozen offal, arrest 9 on 3 vessels during operation against cross-border smuggling
- Customs officers moved in as bags of offal were being transferred from barge onto fishing boat
- Barge had no refrigeration, raising concerns about condition of cargo
Hong Kong customs officers have arrested nine men and confiscated nearly 40 tonnes of frozen offal worth HK$4 million after intercepting three vessels near the sea boundary with mainland China in an operation against cross-border smuggling.
Three of the suspects, mainland residents, were caught on a fishing boat which entered southeastern Hong Kong waters on Wednesday night to pick up the cargo off Waglan Island.
The other six men – all Hong Kong residents – were caught on a tugboat and a barge, Inspector Chan King-fung of customs’ marine enforcement division said on Thursday.
He said these two vessels had stopped south of Waglan Island near the sea boundary, and the fishing boat berthed beside the barge on Wednesday night.
As bags of offal were being transferred from the barge onto the fishing boat at about 8pm, customs officers moved in and intercepted the three vessels.
Upon seeing the customs vessels, the fishing boat sped off but was intercepted before leaving the city’s waters, Chan said.
Inspector Ho Ting-chung of customs’ syndicate crimes investigation bureau said officers found nearly 40 tonnes of frozen offal with an estimated value of HK$4 million during the operation.
