Hong Kong Customs officers netted about 40,000 litres of unmanifested marked oil, worth about $200,000 in an anti- smuggling operation yesterday afternoon (March 30).
About 5.30pm, Customs officers intercepted a local fishing vessel in the waters off Fan Lau, Lantau Island. The vessel was found to have refuelled frequently in the vicinity within two days. As a result of inspection, the officers uncovered about 40,000 litres of unmanifested marked oil in an enlarged fuel tank.
Three male Mainlanders, including a captain and two crewmen aged 30 to 35, were arrested. They will be charged and will appear in the Tsuen Wan Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (April 1).
A spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department today (March 31) said, "Hong Kong Customs officers noticed lately a rise in the cross boundary smuggling activities of diesel to the Mainland. We believe they are related to the recent increase in the retail diesel price by 20 cents a litre in the Mainland.
"To strategically crack down on such illicit activities, Customs officers of Special Task Force and Marine Enforcement Division mounted surveillance operation from March 29 in the southern waters of Lautau Island where fleets of oil barges moored, and cracked the case," he said.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of "attempting to export unmanifested cargo" or "making use of an altered structure of any vessel for the purpose of smuggling" is liable on conviction to a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years. The vessel involved in the above offences would be subject to confiscation.
Ends/Friday, March 31, 2006