Five mainland Chinese arrested for stealing incense tree logs from Hong Kong’s Lamma Island

Five mainlanders who arrived in Hong Kong last Thursday for a seven-day sightseeing visit were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of stealing 40 logs of incense timber on Lamma Island, police said yesterday.

The 150kg haul, estimated to be worth about HK$1.5 million, is almost three times what police seized in four cases of illegal felling of trees on the island in the past two years.

Acting Superintendent Mak Che-hung, divisional commander of Marine South police, believes police have smashed a gang who came to Hong Kong for illegal felling of the species Aquilaria sisensis, also known as incense trees.

“One of the suspects is a 61-year-old man. We believe he is the core figure of the syndicate,” he said. Police are investigating whether he recruited the four other men, aged from 23 and 34.

He said the incense tree could be used as medicine and sell for HK$10,000 per kilogram on the mainland.

Last night, the five men were being held for questioning and none had been charged. Police said the suspects could face prosecution for theft which carries the maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail.

The arrests were made on a slope near Tai Wan Kau Tsuen at about 1.30pm on Sunday after police received a complaint from a resident.