Police seize smuggled furs and computer disks worth HK$20m
Marine police made the largest seizure to date of smuggled mink furs yesterday in Yau Tong.
Officers from the Marine East division had been staking out the area as part of a week-long anti-smuggling operation, according to Senior Inspector Lam Kwok-chu.
They seized 13,970 mink furs, with an estimated value of HK$17 million. The furs were found among 193 cartons of computer hard disks in a truck left behind by the smugglers. Police said the hard disks had a value of about HK$3 million.
Ten smugglers managed to escape in two powerful speedboats.
At about 5.30am yesterday, the speedboats landed at a pier in Ko Fai Road, Yau Tong, before a truck arrived. Several men, including the driver, then began moving cartons of goods from the truck to the boats. As officers rushed out, the men abandoned the truck and fled in the speedboats.
Police gave chase in four boats, but lost sight of them.
Police radar indicated the speedboats were heading towards the mainland.
At the pier, they seized the HK$20 million worth of mink furs and computer hard disks on board the truck.
Officers believe the consignment was intended for Nanao in the Guangdong area.
'We believe smugglers are trying to escape hefty taxes on the mainland,' a police source said.
The source said initial investigation showed that the mink furs came from Thailand and Indonesia, and police were investigating whether the consignment had been legally imported into Hong Kong.
