2nd June 2023 – (Hong Kong) Hong Kong Customs conducted a successful two-week enforcement operation against the sale and distribution of counterfeit and infringing goods from 15th to 29th May. The operation, codenamed “Tracer,” targeted cross-boundary transshipments and local deliveries of counterfeit goods. During this time, Customs officials seized about 78,000 items of suspected counterfeit and infringing goods with an estimated market value of over HK$44 million. As a result of the operation, three men were arrested.
Customs officials used intelligence analysis and in-depth investigations to detect 20 related cases at various local logistics companies. The team carried out strike-and-search operations at around 30 logistics companies in Yuen Long, Tsing Yi, Tuen Mun, Kwai Chung, and Tsuen Wan, leading to the seizure of about 74,000 items of suspected counterfeit goods. These included watches, mobile phone accessories, handbags, clothes, and footwear with an estimated market value of about $43.7 million.
Customs officials also detected two related cases at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point through risk assessment. Two incoming trucks were intercepted on 15th and 20th May, and Customs officers seized about 900 pieces of suspected infringing blu-ray discs and about 600 items of suspected counterfeit goods with an estimated market value of about $260,000. Two male truck drivers, aged 55 and 56, were arrested.
After follow-up investigations, Customs officers believed that some of the suspected counterfeit and infringing goods would have been sold locally, while the rest would have been re-exported to overseas destinations. In response, Customs officers organised a controlled delivery operation and further seized about 2,100 pieces of suspected infringing blu-ray discs, with an estimated market value of about $87,000, at a retail shop in Mong Kok on 16th May. A 57-year-old male shop proprietor was arrested.
Investigations of the above-mentioned cases are ongoing, and the three arrested men have been released on bail pending further investigation.
