Police have arrested 14 people in Guangdong suspected of belonging to a syndicate smuggling edible bird’s nest from Hong Kong and Macau into mainland China.
More than 700 kilograms of the nests – which, if you don’t know, are made from solidified bird saliva and cooked in soups – and around CNY1 million (HKD1.2 million) were recovered on Friday in the operation which began on Sept. 15, reports Apple Daily.
A Hong Kong man, surnamed Lo, is thought to be the head of the group.
Police believe the bird’s nests were shipped from Indonesia to Hong Kong and Macau, where they were smuggled over the border by parallel traders. It is thought the ring could have made CNY100 million from the scheme in the past year.
The swiftlet’s nests, which are prized for their taste and touted health values, have reportedly seen a rise in smuggling into mainland China since the government imposed a 17 percent tax levy on imported goods.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
