Snakeheads declared human cargo as toys

The 26 mainland stowaways were declared as toys by the snakeheads who booked the container to the United States through a bogus firm.

The offices of the company, which appeared to be a secretarial firm, were deserted when police raided a Tsuen Wan industrial building after the container's contents were discovered.

The container was supposed to be loaded on to the Hanjin Amsterdam early yesterday and shipped to Long Beach, California. The snakeheads were understood to have rented it 10 days before the arrests on Wednesday and to have made a booking with a shipping company through a bogus firm, saying they wanted to ship toys to the US. Police are investigating whether the stowaways boarded the container in the SAR or on the mainland.

Neither the shipping company nor the container owner received any money from the snakeheads, who made the booking by phone.

The police Organised Crime and Triad Bureau has arranged for four interpreters to help question the 26 men, who speak Fujianese. It is understood the stowaways, aged between 16 and 36, have not been co-operative and have refused to reveal their identities or where they were from. 'Some refused to say anything, while some claimed they came from Guangzhou,' a source said.

It is believed that snakeheads had briefed the stowaways on what to tell the police in the event that they were discovered so as to buy the smugglers time to escape or make other preparations.