Twelve mainland stowaways were found in a US-bound cargo container at Kwai Chung terminal yesterday, the second such discovery in three months.
Eleven people, said to be members of an international people-smuggling syndicate, were arrested in a series of police raids following the find.
Initial inquiries revealed the container was due to be loaded and shipped to the United States today. The stowaways, aged between 18 and 43, and the 11 suspected smugglers - 10 men and a woman aged between 21 and 40 - were being detained for further questioning last night. Among the 11 was said to be the head of the syndicate.
Organised Crime and Triad Bureau officers, who headed the operation, would not reveal further details.
The Security Bureau said the detection of the stowaways and the crackdown on the suspected syndicate showed the Government was acting to halt migrant trafficking. A bureau spokesman said: 'We are determined to continue to take vigorous actions and play a proactive role in stemming the treacherous, inhuman trade of human smuggling.
'We maintain close trans-boundary co-operation among relevant law enforcement agencies overseas and in the mainland and the local shipping industry to bring migrant smugglers to justice. Our law enforcement partners can count on us to combat migrant trafficking activities. And more importantly, Hong Kong is not a transit centre for migrant trafficking.'
