Hong Kong’s Immigration Department claims to have “smashed” a human smuggling syndicate that was bringing Vietnamese people into the territory in the undercarriage of trucks.
In total, 23 people were arrested between Jan. 9 and 13 in the obscurely codenamed operation “Firenet”, which was a joint sting between authorities in Hong Kong, Guangdong and Shenzhen.
A spokesman said, “During the operation, the Immigration Department deployed more than 100 officers to raid a total of 44 target areas, including 21 hideouts and 23 working places.”
Ten of those detained are from Hong Kong, 12 are Vietnamese and one is from the mainland. The group is made up of 12 men and 11 women.
It is believed the Vietnamese people were assisted by three core members of a smuggling syndicate, who helped them gain access to Dongxing via Mong Cai.
They were then taken to Shenzhen by coach and allowed to chill for a bit, before an attempt to smuggle them across the border into Hong Kong in the hollow space in the undercarriage of trucks.
The syndicate is thought to have been operating the scheme for months.
Once in the territory, the illegal immigrants were provided with fake Hong Kong ID cards and assisted in gaining minimum wage employment. It is believed the migrants paid between HKD8,000 and HKD10,000 for such services.
Those found guilty of seeking illegal entry to Hong Kong could face a penalty of HKD25,000 and three years in prison, while anyone with a forged identity card could face a fine of HKD10,000 and 10 years in jail.
Those found guilty of arranging the passage could be fined HKD 5 million and sentenced to 14 years behind bars.
Photo: Dan Iggers
