Hong Kong Customs has seized $160 million worth of suspected smuggled music accessories and audio equipment.
Customs officers conducted an operation against sea smuggling in the western waters of Hong Kong in the evening on April 21 and intercepted a river trade vessel heading towards mainland waters.
The officers found a large batch of suspected smuggled goods including solid-state drives, integrated circuits, memory cards, musical instrument accessories and audio equipment in three of the containers on board the vessel.
Customs officers the next day arrested a 69-year-old woman suspected to be connected with the case and detained the three containers involved.
An investigation is ongoing. The arrested woman has been released on bail pending further investigation, and further arrests are not ruled out.
Epidemic is gradually subsiding and sea freight has been resuming as normal, Customs said. The criminals also declared that low-valued items were being carried in order to evade detection by law enforcement officers.
Customs stresses that it will keep up its enforcement action and will continue to combat sea smuggling activities by actively pursuing risk-management and intelligence-based enforcement strategies.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
