Police net huge haul of smuggled salmon after witness smells something fishy

More than 300 boxes of chilled salmon estimated to be worth HK$900,000 were seized from a local fishing boat yesterday morning in the sea off Siu Sai Wan in Eastern District.

Marine police also arrested three mainland men, aged 47 to 61, on board for exporting unmanifested cargo and illegal immigration. The police had received a report at around 1am that large quantities of cargo were being loaded onto a suspicious boat near Shau Kei Wan typhoon shelter. The case is now under further investigation by the Marine Regional Crime Unit.

Lee Choi-wah, chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Seafood Merchants, said the mainland's excise tariff on salmon is around 33 per cent, meaning that the smugglers could have dodged a tax bill of almost HK$300,000 on the seized fish.

"Seafood smuggling into the mainland has always been around," he said.

According to Lee, methods of seafood smuggling vary but a typical way involves importing seafood from overseas, delivering it from the airport to a local boat and then transporting it to the mainland.

He said other types of seafood popular among smugglers included lobster, abalone, mantis shrimp and geoduck.