Hong Kong customs to check over 16,000 Mark Six tickets for winners after they were seized along with electronics worth HK$10 million in smuggling bust
- Superintendent says this is the first time such a large amount of tickets, to be sold in Macau and mainland China, have been seized in single operation
- Each ticket contains two Mark Six entries worth HK$20 for Thursday night’s lottery draw
Hong Kong customs will have to check more than 16,000 Mark Six lottery tickets for possible winners at Thursday night’s draw after they were seized along with HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) worth of electronic products being smuggled out of the city on a Macau-bound cargo vessel.
Superintendent Raymond Cheng Tak-hei of the Customs and Excise Department said it was the first time such a large amount of lottery tickets – destined to be sold illegally in Macau and mainland China – was seized in a single operation.
“The seized tickets are evidence in the smuggling case. If there are winning tickets, we will seek legal advice from the Department of Justice to see how the prize money will be dealt with,” Cheng said.
Each ticket contained two Mark Six entries worth HK$20 for Thursday night’s lottery draw, according to the department.
The superintendent said the lottery tickets were destined for Macau and mainland China, where they would have been sold at a higher price.
A box containing the lottery tickets was found in a shipment on board a Macau-bound cargo vessel that was intercepted off Black Point in Tuen Mun during an anti-smuggling operation around 6.30pm on Wednesday.
According to the department, the shipment, placed on top of four pallets, was declared to be carrying food.
Hong Kong makes biggest sea smuggling bust of year with HK$160 million haul
The consignment was selected for inspection after suspicious images appeared after customs officers checked it with a handheld X-ray scanner. The vessel also had other shipments on it.
In addition to the tickets, customs officers also seized more than 6,000 electronic products including mobile phones and tablets in multiple boxes. The electronic goods are estimated to be worth HK$10 million.
Cheng said smugglers tried to mix contraband products with other shipments in an attempt to avoid detection.
New tactics, same game as Hong Kong-mainland meat smugglers resurface
The department’s Senior Inspector Wong Chi-keung said the seized electronic products were subject to mainland tariffs of between 63 per cent and 108 per cent.
“Smugglers could have evaded HK$8 million in tariffs if the contraband products were successfully smuggled into the mainland,” he said, adding that customs were still investigating the source of the goods.
He said it was the third time in three months that customs officers had found contraband products that were destined for Macau.
Two mainland crew members, aged 37 and 59, were arrested aboard the vessel. They were detained on suspicion of attempting to export unmanifested cargo – an offence punishable by up to seven years in jail and a HK$2 million fine under the Import and Export Ordinance.
As of Thursday afternoon, the pair were still being held for questioning.
In June, customs officers intercepted a riverboat bound for Macau suspected of smuggling HK$23 million in cash, marking the first time such a vessel has been used to move a large amount of money into the city.
The cash was seized along with HK$45 million worth of contraband products such as red wine, frozen meat and cosmetic injectables in a Macau-bound vessel that was intercepted in the city’s northwestern waters.
In the first five months of the year, customs officers confiscated HK$380 million worth of contraband products in 25 sea smuggling operations. There were 42 cases totalling HK$370 million worth of illicit goods seized in the same period last year.
