Nine men were arrested and two left-hand-drive cars and 148 cartons of film, worth a total of $2.3 million, were seized in separate operations yesterday. Officers from the Anti-Smuggling Taskforce intercepted five speedboats in the operations. Shortly after midnight, officers discovered the first speedboat loaded with a left-hand-drive car at Wong Keng Dei, Sai Kung. Minutes later, another speedboat was intercepted with the other car on board on a nearby beach after a chase. Three men, including a mainlander, swam ashore and were arrested. A crane truck suspected to have been used for loading the two cars was also seized at Wong Keng Dei. A police spokesman said the two cars, worth a total of $300,000, were unmanifested cargo bound for the mainland. At about 8.30am, officers intercepted another three speedboats east of the Ninepin Group of islands. Six mainlanders, aged between 24 and 35, were arrested on board and 148 cartons of film were seized from the speedboats. The total consignment, believed to be unmanifested cargo, was worth about $2 million. All five speedboats were about 10 metres long and each was fitted with two outboard engines. The cases will be handed to the Customs and Excise Department for further action.
