The two sides will establish a joint task force to investigate the recent death of an officer during an anti-smuggling operation, and will also cooperate more broadly in terms of strategy.
Hong Kong and Guangdong police will ramp up cooperation on combating cross-border smuggling activities and set up a new task force to investigate the death of a local officer who was killed during a maritime operation last week.
The initiatives came out of a meeting in Shenzhen on Thursday attended by Hong Kong police commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee, Guangdong Vice-Governor and public security chief Wang Zhizhong, and the head of the province’s marine police, Liu Shaogen.
“During the meeting, both sides were highly concerned about the incident in which Senior Inspector Lam Yuen-yee died while performing her duty in waters of Sha Chau,” Hong Kong police said in a statement.
Both sides, the statement added, would establish a new joint special task force to enhance the cross-border exchange of intelligence and investigate the incident.
Lam died at sea during an anti-smuggling operation on September 25. She and three colleagues were thrown overboard after their vessel was rammed by a turbocharged speedboat they were trying to intercept off Sha Chau, where such police operations are common.
Lam’s body was not found until Monday morning, when it was spotted floating in the waters off Yi O Hau on Lantau Island.
At the Shenzhen meeting, both sides also agreed to strengthen collaboration with regard to strategy, tactics and anti-smuggling operations to better crack down on the triad-run trade.
The statement said they would also work together to improve safety measures and equipment for officers, combat recruitment by syndicates, track illegal proceeds and sources of funding, prevent the turbocharging of smuggling vessels, and take measures limiting the storage of frozen meat – one of the most commonly trafficked items.
Police and customs officers often conduct operations near Sha Chau to combat cross-border smuggling activities, in which fishing craft, cargo vessels and speedboats carry contraband from Hong Kong to the mainland.