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.
He said mainland authorities imposed 70 per cent taxes on frozen meat – and there was an additional 25 per cent tariff on US goods under the trade war between the two nations.
Wong Ngar-lun, divisional commander of the marine strike and strategic planning department, of customs’ ports and maritime command, said it was the ninth case of frozen meat sea smuggling they had encountered this year.
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