Calm descends on Sheung Shui - for now
Chaotic mess of people and goods that marked border town in recent months dies down in the wake of a concerted government crackdown
The Sheung Shui MTR station, once jammed with hordes of people hauling bulging bags and hefty boxes, was a picture of calm yesterday in the run-up to new heavy-handed measures from the government to curb parallel trading.
In mid-afternoon - during the usual peak hours of parallel trading activities - only a handful of suspected traders were seen, after police and immigration officers carried out several raids against the transport of daily necessities across the border.
The latest crackdown came in tandem with the government's announcement of measures at 4.30pm to stem the outflow of infant milk formula.
The Immigration Department also said it would pass a list of suspected traders to Shenzhen authorities, who may blacklist or bar them from re-entry into Hong Kong.
In the past few months, an open area outside the station in the border town had been a chaotic mess of traders unpacking boxes of milk formula and stuffing the tins into their baggage.
Yesterday, an air of normality returned, with a few empty suitcases tied to the railings. But a man who claimed to be a Shenzhen tourist said he was making a last-ditch effort to grab as many tins as possible from dispensaries along Lung Sum Avenue nearby before the announcement.