從廣東和港澳地區的跨境走私案件來看,走私活動依然猖獗,走私生意利潤豐厚。儘管海關當局堅決打擊走私活動,但走私集團願意去冒走私產品被扣押、成員被逮捕和被起訴的風險。
「大飛」時速達90公里
10月24日,香港警方在屯門龍鼓灘發現四艘改裝快艇(俗稱「大飛」),共配備14台150馬力高速舷外引擎,所有這些快艇總值高達 400 萬港元,每艘時速高達 50 海里。 快艇塗成黑色,沒有照明設備,故晩上在海面行駛,會增加與執法船隻發生碰撞的可能性。從執法的角度看,這些快艇很危險,可能會導致政府船隻上的海關人員受傷甚至死亡。
警方打擊的「大飛」的基地位於一個佔地8000平方呎、離海岸線僅20米的隱蔽區域。 4艘「大飛」可以輕鬆快捷地下水,同時攜帶大量的走私貨物。每艘「大飛」長15米,寬4米,高2米。每艘「大飛」的時速高達50海里,等於時速逾90公里。快艇船身由鋼鐵製成,因此與海關快艇發生碰撞便非常危險。警方發現的4艘「大飛」都沒有牌照,懷疑「大飛」是如何運到海邊的基地。
發現這些「大飛」表明,走私集團熱衷於高速、隱蔽地走私貨物,與執法部門玩「貓捉老鼠」的遊戲。
香港變冒牌藥品中轉站
就在10月24日這一天,香港海關查獲大批受管制藥品,其中包括118萬粒冒牌「威而鋼」,涉案金額達5500萬港元,5人被捕,包括3男2女。 5名被捕者中,一名來自俄羅斯,一名來自烏茲別克。 顯然,犯罪嫌疑人跨越了香港和東歐。走私集團由東歐的核心成員組成,透過收集客戶的訂單,將冒牌藥品從印度走私到香港,以香港作為中轉站,在紅磡的一個工廈單位分發藥品,在那裏將藥品重新包裝,並通過郵局寄送給顧客。
香港海關發現一名39歲的烏茲別克女子郵寄的800件郵件,是用公司名下的銀行卡支付郵資的。海關表示,在這91萬粒「威而鋼」中,約有6萬粒是冒牌的,其餘則是抗抑鬱藥。海關官員追查到紅磡的一個工廈單位,即場拘捕一名本地女子,她在那裏協助重新包裝藥物。 其後,另一名本地女子被捕,她涉嫌於2019年至2020年間通過空殼公司收集和處理1100萬港元販賣藥物所得,過程中涉及洗黑錢。
根據香港《進出口條例》,任何人在沒有有效出口許可證下出口藥劑產品及藥物,即屬違法,一經定罪,最高可被判罰款50萬元及監禁兩年。此外,根據《藥劑業及毒藥條例》,任何人未按規定管有毒藥表第1部所列任何毒藥,即屬違法,最高可被罰款港幣 10 萬元及監禁兩年。
10 月 18 日至 25 日期間,香港海關在屯門碼頭檢獲 32000 件走私物品,估計市值約 630 萬港元。 這些走私產品是在從廣東南沙抵港的三個貨櫃箱中發現的,其中包括冒牌運動鞋和皮帶等,目的地是南美國家。
年關將至內地對高價消費品需求大
10月29日,香港海關向記者表示,海關人員10 月 14 日晚上在24個貨櫃內發現大量走私食品、電子產品、化妝品、紅酒、海參、電腦卡、智能手機、手錶和名牌手袋。報道指,這些貨櫃報稱載有膠粒,實際上隱藏了所有計劃運往內地的走私物品。
海關分析,相信是因為農曆新年將至,內地對花膠、海蔘等高價食材需求大,但因通關問題不能依頼水貨客大量帶貨,不法分子於是改用貨櫃將高價貨品走私往內地。香港海關透露,2021年初至10月底共破獲81宗走私案件,涉案金額高達21億港元,較2020年1至10月同期增加兩倍。
港澳海關和內地海關與走私集團的「貓捉老鼠」遊戲顯然在繼續。由於執法機關和外國之間努力進行情報共享,當局現在佔了上風。 然而,隨着農曆新年將至,預計走私活動將更頻繁。 因此,「貓捉老鼠」遊戲將繼續,在維護廣大華南地區的法治和秩序方面,發揮重要和積極的作用。
Cross-Border Smuggling Business
Judging from the cases of cross-border smuggling in the regions of South China, Hong Kong and Macau, their activities remain persistent, and businesses are highly lucrative. Despite the determination of customs authorities to crack down on smuggling activities, the smuggling syndicates are willing to take the risks of their smuggled products being detained and their members being arrested and charged.
On October 24, in Tuen Mun’s Lung Kwu Tan, the Hong Kong police discovered four super-sized speedboats equipped with a total of 14 high-speed outboard motors each of which had 150 horsepower (Sing Tao Daily, October 25, 2021). All these speedboats could fetch up to a prize of HK$4 million and each of them could travel for 50 nautical miles per hour. The speedboats were painted black in their colors, and they were not equipped with lights, thereby increasing the possibility of clashes with law-enforcement vessels. From the perspective of law enforcement, these speedboats were dangerous and could incur injuries and even death to customs officers on government vessels.
The base in which the police cracked down on the super-sized speedboats was located at a hidden area occupying 8,000 square feet and just 20 meters off the coastline. The four speedboats could go into the waters easily and quickly while simultaneously carrying a large amount of smuggled goods. Each of the speedboats was 15 meters long, 4 meters wide and 2 meters height. With a speed of nautical miles of 50, each speedboat could travel as fast as 90 kilometers per hour. The haul of the speedboat was made up of steel and iron, thereby making any clashes with customs speedboats highly dangerous. The police found that all the four super-size speedboats did not have license and questioned how they were transported to the base near coastal waters.
The discovery of these super-size speedboats showed that smuggling syndicates were eager to smuggle their goods at high speed and in a hidden manner, playing a cat-and-mouse game with law-enforcement authorities.
On the same day of October 24, the Hong Kong customs uncovered a large quantity of drugs, including 1.18 million pills of fake Viagra, which amounted to HK$55 million (HK01.com, October 25, 2021). Five people were arrested, including three men and two women. Among the five arrested persons, one from Russia and another from Uzbekistan. Obviously, criminal suspects cut across Hong Kong and East Europe. The smuggling syndicate was composed of core members in Eastern Europe. It collected the orders from customers and then smuggled the fake drug products from India to Hong Kong, which was used as a transit point to distribute the drugs in a depot in Hunghom where the drugs were repackaged and mailed to customers through postal services.
This syndicate was discovered after the Hong Kong customs found out 800 parcels mailed by a 39-year-old Uzbekistan woman who paid for the postal charges by using a company’s credit card. Among the 910,000 pills of Viagra, about 60,000 were fake and the rest were anti-depressants, according to the customs. The customs officials pursued the origin of the mailed parcels to a factory unit in Hunghom, where another local Chinese woman assisted in the process of repackaging the drugs. Later, another local woman was arrested, and she was suspected of collecting and dealing with HK$11 million proceeds of drugs trafficking through empty shell companies from 2019 to 2020. Money laundering was involved in the process of dealing with the illegal proceeds.
According to the Import and Export Ordinance in Hong Kong, anyone who does not have the valid export permit exports medical products and drugs commit a criminal offense and he or she is liable to a fine of HK$500,000 and an imprisonment of two years. Furthermore, anyone who manages poisonous drugs is liable to a fine of HK$100,000 and an imprisonment of two years, according to the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance.
On October 25, it was reported in Macau that the Huangpu customs in Guangdong province arrested 27 criminal suspects who engaged in the smuggling of luxurious products, including famous brands fashion and shoes which amounted to 100 million yuan (Macau Daily News, October 26, 2021). The smuggling syndicate was composed of the people from Hong Kong and Macau. The Huangpu customs officials dug out the smuggling activities by firstly utilizing big data to analyze the unclear origins of fashion products that were promoted and sold online. The collection points of these fashionable products were in Macau. After the luxurious products arrived Macau, they were shown and promoted in the mainland through online shops. Yet, the prize of these products was much lower than the actual prize of the luxurious products, showing the likelihood of smuggling luxurious goods into Macau’s collection points and then marketing them in the mainland. It was found that two mainland masterminds of the smuggling syndicate firstly collected all the luxurious products outside the mainland, arranging them to be smuggled into Macau through the sea route and eventually mailing the products to customers in the mainland.
The prominence of smuggling activities was also found in a pier at Tuen Mun where the Hong Kong customs discovered 32,000 pieces of smuggled products that amounted to HK$6.3 million between October 18 and 25 (Sing Tao Daily, October 27, 2021). These smuggled products were found in three containers shipped to Hong Kong from Guangdong’s Nansha and they included sports shoes and belts with fake brand names. The destinations were countries in South America.
On October 27, the Macau customs authorities, after exchanging intelligence with their Hong Kong and Japanese counterparts, detained 9,000 items of smuggled products from Japan to Macau through Hong Kong (Macau Daily News, October 28, 2021). These smuggled items included strong Chinese white wine, health products and medicine that amounted to MOP$13 million. The origin of this smuggling case was attributable to the Japanese investigation in which the Japanese customs informed the Hong Kong and Macau side through their regular liaison mechanism. The three sides monitored the process of smuggling goods, and the Hong Kong customs spotted the container which was arranged to ship to Macau through Hong Kong. On October 25, the Macau customs took action to detain all the smuggled products. One Macau resident was arrested.
On October 29 the Hong Kong customs told the press that the customs officials discovered a large amount of smuggled food, electronics products, cosmetics, red wine, sea cucumbers, computer cards, smart phones, watches and bags with famous brands on 24 containers on the night of October 14 (Ming Pao, October 30, 2021). Originally, the containers were reportedly composed of plastics, but in fact they hid all the smuggled products that would have been shipped to the mainland. Because the Lunar Chinese New Year is approaching, the smuggling syndicates could not rely on individual travellers to smuggle goods in large scale across the border on land. They changed their smuggling tactic to the use of large containers. The Hong Kong customs revealed that 81 cases of smuggling were caught from early 2021 to late October with an amount fetching up to HK$2.1 billion – an increase of twofold compared to the same period from January to October in 2020.
Obviously, the cat-and-mouse game between the customs authorities in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland on the one hand and the smuggling syndicates persists. The upper hand is now tilted toward the law-enforcement agencies and authorities, thanks to their diligence and intelligence-sharing activities among themselves and with foreign countries. However, as the Lunar Chinese New Year is approaching, more smuggling activities can be anticipated. As such, the cat-and-mouse game will continue to be prominent and significant in the maintenance of law and order in the Greater South China region.
原刊於澳門新聞通訊社(MNA)網站,本社獲作者授權轉載。