Seafood lovers who spend hundreds of dollars on a can of high-grade abalone are being cheated by unscrupulous shopkeepers, a Customs officer said yesterday.
The warning came after four shops in Central and Hunghom were raided and 94 tins of low-grade abalone under the brand name Calmex seized. Four men and a woman, aged between 31 and 63, were arrested.
They included the proprietors of the shops.
Trade Descriptions Investigation Division commander Chan Yiu-wah said: 'People were being sold a can of abalone imported from Australia or New Zealand at $450, but it was worth only $150. They changed the original wrappings and claimed it was from Mexico.
'High-grade cans have their labels printed directly on the tin, but the counterfeits use paper wrappings,' he said.