Guest guest Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 South China Morning Post http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?\ vgnextoid=dcf22f7bf1ca7110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD & ss=Hong+Kong & s=News by Clifford Lo Jan 25, 2008 Marine police arrested four mainland men for smuggling about 1,000 live chickens into Hong Kong from Shenzhen by sea in an apparent attempt to cash in ahead of the Lunar New Year. The men were held after police intercepted two wooden boats in an anti-smuggling operation in Deep Bay. Officers at the Tsim Bei Tsui observation post spotted the 9-metre boats on radar as they entered Hong Kong waters from the Shenzhen River at about 10pm on Wednesday. Two pursuit craft intercepted the boats off the Tsim Bei Tsui pier after a brief chase. Senior Inspector Mak Kwok-hoi said four mainland men, aged between 36 and 45, were arrested. The two boats held 90 cages containing about 1,000 live chickens worth about HK$80,000, he said. " We believe the smuggled chickens were for vendors in Yuen Long and New Territories North, " he said. Police said the chickens would be handed over to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to be destroyed, and the Customs and Excise Department was following up the case. " As there is a demand for live chickens ahead of the Lunar New Year, smugglers take this opportunity to sneak them into Hong Kong and make quick cash, " Senior Inspector Mak said. He insisted it was an isolated case and there was no indication that a syndicate was behind it. He said marine police had stepped up enforcement against smuggling ahead of the Lunar New Year. Meanwhile, the mainland's Ministry of Commerce said it was confident that the mainland could guarantee a stable supply of pork and flour to Hong Kong and Macau during the Lunar New Year period. Ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei said Beijing would announce an additional 31 authorised live pig exporters soon, although the mainland faced a shortage of supply. " Transportation of live pigs to Hong Kong has been affected due to recent bad weather and shortage of feed in many provinces, " he said. " But we demanded that the live pig export agencies and enterprises spare no efforts to guarantee pork supply to Hong Kong around the Chinese New Year holidays after a meeting in Hefei , Anhui province on December 24. " Mr Wang said pork and beef prices would stabilise, as supply to Hong Kong this month was steady at about 3,900 live pigs each day. Mr Wang's assurance came as Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma Si-hang began a two-day visit to Beijing yesterday. Mr Ma was expected to discuss details of the food supply to Hong Kong with relevant departments and was due to meet Commerce Minister Chen Deming today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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