Smuggling by boat surged last year with a 94-fold increase in the number of seizures of industrial oil.
Marine Police recorded 160 smuggling cases with 604 people arrested, representing an almost three-fold rise from the 54 cases and 106 people held in 1997.
The value of seizures jumped 4.6 times from $18.6 million in 1997 to $85.6 million last year.
Deputy marine regional commander Chief Superintendent Ng Chee-kin said the seizures included $12.5 million of smuggled fuel oil and $60 million of pirated compact discs.
The value of illegal fuel oil seized in 1998 was nine times that of the seizures the previous year.
Among the 3.3 million litres of fuel oil seized last year, 2.8 million litres was industrial oil - 94 times more than the 30,000 litres found the year before.
