Three years of near isolation during the pandemic may have upset people’s routine and behaviour, but what remains unchanged among some is perhaps the greed to make a fast buck. As life gradually returns to normal following the reopening of the border with the mainland, so does the trafficking of cross-border parallel goods. The resurgence was exposed in a Post report of traders being seen passing products with notes to couriers outside Sheung Shui MTR station, while others nearby appeared to be acting as lookouts. About 10 police officers later showed up and urged people with trolleys and cardboard boxes to disperse, but the same crowd returned later. Trafficked items, mainly wine, cosmetics and healthcare products, were packed into suitcases or bags to be carried across the checkpoint at Lo Wu. ‘We’re just earning a living’: parallel trading returns to Hong Kong border town Until the coronavirus struck in 2020, parallel traders took advantage of travel convenience to make easy money. Now they are back buying stock in Hong Kong and reselling it over the border to evade hefty import and value-added taxes. Intelligence shows couriers employed by traders are mostly local residents paid up to HK$100 per trip to take goods to the mainland. Their actions have fuelled fears about hygiene, obstruction of pavements and the emptying of shelves at shops. There have been protests in the worst-hit areas and cross-border tension has also grown. The return of such illicit activities was foreseen by the government as it prepared to resume travel with quarantine conditions in early January. But whether it has done enough to combat the problem is another matter. Hong Kong customs to meet Guangdong counterparts over parallel trading resurgence While cross-border cooperation has been stepped up, and is now overseen by the deputy chief secretary of administration, enforcement remains an issue. No fewer than 26 rounds of a police crackdown have been carried out on parallel traders over the past seven weeks with four people fined, including one arrested for obstruction. Penalties do not seem to reflect the severity of a matter that not only causes a nuisance and shortage of supply here, but also hurts tax revenue on the mainland. Given the trend may well intensify as life continues to return to normal, authorities on both sides of the border should step up enforcement action.