Coronavirus restrictions linked to sea-smuggling surge as Hong Kong customs seizes HK$150 million worth of contraband goods this year

Confiscations so far this year are up 255 per cent by value from same period in 2019, which sources partly attribute to quarantine and border restrictions

Gangs are profiting from the health crisis by smuggling goods from Hong Kong to the mainland to evade taxes

Reading Time:3 minutes

Some of the goods from a bust on Tuesday that has taken the total value of maritime-smuggling seizures to HK$150 million this year. Photo: Handout

Published: 5:10pm, 14 May 2020Updated: 11:28pm, 14 May 2020

Hong Kong customs has seized HK$150 million worth of contraband goods as of May 13 in its crackdown on maritime smuggling, a 255 per cent increase this year that has been linked with coronavirus restrictions.

The surge from the corresponding period last year was partly the result of quarantine orders and the closure of major checkpoints on the border with mainland China that were introduced to combat the pandemic, law enforcement sources have said.

“Cross-border parallel traders are unable to come to the city from the mainland to buy and bring goods back to their hometown because of the pandemic,” one source said. “This could give opportunities for maritime smugglers to exploit.”

Another source said mainland authorities had also imposed very stringent restrictions on the import of food and supplements such as bird’s nests, which are widely regarded as a delicacy on the mainland.

So far this year, customs officers seized HK$150 million worth of goods bound for the mainland in 25 sea-smuggling cases, according to assistant superintendent Danny Cheung Kwok-yin of the Customs and Excise Department’s marine enforcement group.

“The number of cases rose by 4 per cent to 25 this year from 24 in the same period last year, but the value of seized contraband increased by 255 per cent to HK$150 million this year from HK$42.3 million,” he said.

In the whole of 2019, Hong Kong customs seized HK$162.5 million worth of goods in 55 such operations.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x

Coronavirus restrictions linked to sea-smuggling surge as Hong Kong customs seizes HK$150 million worth of contraband goods this year

Confiscations so far this year are up 255 per cent by value from same period in 2019, which sources partly attribute to quarantine and border restrictions Gangs are profiting from the health crisis by smuggling goods from Hong Kong to the mainland to evade taxes

Confiscations so far this year are up 255 per cent by value from same period in 2019, which sources partly attribute to quarantine and border restrictions

Gangs are profiting from the health crisis by smuggling goods from Hong Kong to the mainland to evade taxes