Nine held over online smuggled frozen meat sales
HK01 · 3 SOURCESabout 7 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong Customs said it identified social media advertisements promoting cheap frozen meat from the mainland and claiming to offer direct cold-chain delivery to Hong Kong. Investigators later alleged that a smuggling group moved frozen meat through Chung Ying Street in Sha Tau Kok, routed goods to a sorting point in Yau Ma Tei, and then redistributed them to a Kowloon City market stall and residential addresses. In an operation on November 3, officers arrested nine people and seized about 570 kilograms of suspected smuggled frozen meat plus about 500 kilograms of other food, with a total estimated value of HK$140,000. Food and Environmental Hygiene Department officers said the meat lacked required health certificates or import approval, and warned that licensed food businesses could lose their licences if convicted of selling meat from unapproved sources.
Key Points
- Customs said big-data online surveillance found multiple social media ads offering mainland frozen meat at prices more than 50 per cent below Hong Kong market levels.
- The suspected syndicate allegedly mixed frozen meat with cooked food, smuggled it via Chung Ying Street, then sent it from Sha Tau Kok to Yau Ma Tei for redistribution.
- On November 3, officers intercepted three delivery vans and traced consignments to a Kowloon City market stall and homes in Sham Shui Po and Tai Kok Tsui.
- Those arrested were eight men and one woman, aged 23 to 58, including drivers, recipients, a market meat stall owner and a suspected cross-border courier.
- Customs said the goods were carried only in foam boxes, with melted or absent ice packs, and took more than four hours to reach urban Kowloon.
Why It Matters
The case points to a food safety risk beyond ordinary smuggling because the products were allegedly marketed online as properly chilled while being transported without effective temperature control. For Hong Kong consumers and licensed food traders, the enforcement message is that unusually cheap meat from unclear sources can carry both health risks and serious legal consequences.