Hong Kong customs seizes HK$50 million worth of smuggled frozen meat bound for mainland China
- Tax-dodging gang sought to evade tariffs, including those imposed during US-China trade war
- Food was not refrigerated, bypassed health and safety checks and on-board hygiene was ‘bad’
A cross-border syndicate smuggling frozen meat from Hong Kong to mainland China was dealt a heavy blow when customs officers seized 540 tonnes of produce worth HK$50 million, the city’s largest bust of its kind in a decade.
Criminals sought to evade mainland taxes, including tariffs imposed during the US-China trade war, by transporting illicit beef and offal from the city to Guangdong, a coastal province in southeast China.
The street value of the consignment would have doubled to HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) if the gang had successfully smuggled the unmanifested goods, which came from the United States, Canada and South America countries, the Post was told on Friday.
“Their smuggling operation is to evade hefty mainland tariffs and stringent import restrictions such as health monitoring measures,” one law enforcement source said.