Hong Kong operation nabs $8.6m in fake goods

Hong Kong Customs has seized HK$67m ($8.6m) in suspected counterfeit and illicit goods in a crackdown on cross-boundary transshipments and local deliveries and made three arrests.

The 19-day operation – called Tracer – deployed a risk-assessment strategy to identify high-risk shipments arriving in Hong Kong from Nansha, Guangdong, at the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal Customs Cargo Examination Compound.

Officials seized approximately 15,000 suspect items, including alcoholic beverages, and the operation also led investigators towards 21 related cases involving about 30 local logistics companies in Kwai Chung, Tuen Mun, Mai Po, Tsing Yi and Yuen Long that netted another 62,000 items, including watches, mobile phone accessories, glasses, clothes and footwear.

In a statement, HK Customs said some of the suspected counterfeit goods would have been sold locally while the rest would have been re-exported to overseas destinations.