Hong Kong customs officers have confiscated bird’s nests worth HK$9.5 million (US$1.2 million) hidden in a truck headed to mainland China, the highest value seizure of its kind at a land checkpoint in two decades.
Superintendent Jason Lau Yuk-lung of the customs’ syndicate crimes investigation bureau on Thursday said the cargo, discovered at the Man Kam To control point the day before, was intended to meet demand for the delicacy on the mainland in the run-up to Lunar New Year.
It was the second major seizure of the product at a land border checkpoint in two weeks, he added. Bird’s nest is widely regarded as a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
Customs officers at the Man Kam To control point intercepted the Shenzhen-bound truck for inspection on Wednesday afternoon. The truck was declared to be carrying no cargo.
But officers found several stacks of plastic baskets in the vehicle’s cargo compartment during an inspection.
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“At the bottom of one plastic basket, a layer of plastic boxes containing bird’s nests was found with another basket placed on top to cover them,” Lau said. “Among 113 plastic baskets, customs officers uncovered 272 boxes carrying 234kg of the contraband items.”
He said the estimated HK$9.5 million haul was the biggest seizures of bird’s nests at a land control point since records began in 2002.
The previous record was in 2018 when officers seized more than HK$8 million worth of bird’s nests.
About 150kg (331lbs) of bird’s nest was found among HK$7.8 million worth of contraband products concealed underneath the aisle of a cross-border tourist bus at the Shenzhen Bay control point on December 20. Its driver was arrested.
Lau said the goods seized on Wednesday were subject to mainland tariffs of about 38 per cent, adding that “smugglers could have evaded HK$3.6 million in taxes if the goods were successfully smuggled across the border”.
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Officers arrested the 65-year-old driver on suspicion of exporting unmanifested cargo, an offence punishable by up to seven years in jail and a HK$2 million fine.
The man was released on bail pending further investigation.
Customs officers seized HK$6 million worth of high-value products such as fish maws and shark fins, in a shipping container before it was loaded onto a Vietnam-bound ship on Wednesday last week.
A source familiar with the case said the contraband goods might be smuggled into the mainland after it reached Vietnam.
Lau said the latest case showed smugglers used different methods of transport and concealment methods to deliver contraband products across the border.
He said customs officers would continue to share intelligence with mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies to combat cross-border smuggling activities.