More than HK$1 million worth of milk powder seized in customs raid

Customs officials have seized more than HK$1 million worth of baby milk powder in a crackdown on a warehouse used to store the product for parallel-goods trading purposes.

The Customs and Excise Department seized the 4,500 tins of infant formula at the warehouse at Sheung Shui's Advanced Technology Centre yesterday. The 4,050kg of powder was worth about HK$1.1 million.

It was customs' largest milk powder seizure in a factory warehouse since the two-tin ban on travellers leaving the city kicked in last month.

In the raid, the officials arrested two masterminds of a parallel-goods trading syndicate storing the powder. The man and woman , aged 20 and 51 respectively, were both from Hong Kong.

Five parallel-goods traders - aged between 21 and 50, and all from Hong Kong - were also arrested at the Lo Wu border checkpoint. About 20kg of infant formula was found on them.

Chan Tsz-tat, customs' syndicate crimes investigation bureau divisional commander, said the two masterminds were found withdrawing stock from the warehouse and distributing it to parallel-goods traders near the Sheung Shui MTR station.

The traders travelled across the border several times a day, with at least two tins of milk powder each time, he said.