Illegal immigrant racket relying on fishing boats smashed as 38 arrested in Hong Kong and China
Each smuggled person charged up to HK$12,000 for journey, joint operation reveals
Hong Kong and Guangdong province authorities have broken a cross-border, people-smuggling racket accused of using fishing boats to bring Chinese illegal immigrants to and from the city and offering them illegal employment following the arrest of 38 people.
The ringleader of the syndicate, a mainland man, was among seven people apprehended in Guangdong, according to Hong Kong marine police chief inspector Wong Chun-yip.
In the city, police arrested a local man and three mainlanders – two men and one woman – after intercepting a mainland-bound fishing boat in Deep Bay off Lau Fau Shan in the New Territories before daybreak on Friday.
The woman was found hidden in a secret compartment under a toilet on board the 13-metre-long boat. Police also seized 190kg of endangered red sandalwood worth about HK$600,000 in the compartment.
By midday Friday, another 27 people – 13 men and 14 women – were picked up as police and immigration officers raided 16 locations across the city. The locations included subdivided flats, a restaurant and a waste recycling factory.
After reaching the landing spot ... they were instructed to take taxis to their hideouts
Local and provincial authorities began investigating the syndicate after receiving intelligence about two weeks ago.
Wong said intelligence indicated the gang used fishing boats to smuggle illegal Chinese immigrants between Shekou in Guangdong and Lau Fau Shan in northwest Hong Kong, which is near Mai Po nature reserve. The journey takes about half an hour.
