Electric car with secret compartment used to smuggle phones and smartwatches from Hong Kong to Shenzhen
Customs officers arrest five men and seize HK$8 million worth of electronics
A cross-border smuggling ring that used an electric car to transport goods from Hong Kong to Shenzhen to evade a hefty mainland tax was broken up after the arrest of five men and the seizure of HK$8 million (US$1 million) worth of electronics.
Most of the haul, including mobile phones, smartwatches and computer hard disks, was found in a hidden compartment in the battery case of the mainland brand BYD electric car when the vehicle was intercepted by customs officers for inspection at the Shenzhen Bay control point on Tuesday.
The driver was arrested.
In a follow-up operation, another four men, including the suspected ringleader, were picked up during a raid on a flat in Yuen Long.
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“It is the first time an electric vehicle was found to have been used in smuggling goods across the border,” Assistant Superintendent Alan Lau Yau-lun of Customs’ syndicate crimes investigation bureau said.
He said about a third of the battery case at the bottom of the vehicle had been converted into a secret compartment to hide the goods.