Gongbei Customs said on Thursday that there is a trend in which Shenzhen-Hong Kong parallel traders are shifting their smuggling activities to Gongbei, exploiting so-called “cross-border” children over the summer holidays to smuggle goods.
A statement from Gongbei Customs District said that parallel traders between Shenzhen and Hong Kong are shifting their smuggling activities to the Gongbei land-border checkpoint and the Zhuhai checkpoint at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB).
In addition, the statement said that customs officials have also noticed that smugglers are using cross-border children – those who were born in Hong Kong, live on the mainland and go to school in Hong Kong – and their parents to smuggle birds’ nest, alcoholic beverages, luxury goods and make-up and other goods.
According to The Macau Post Daily, the statement also mentioned that customs officers recently discovered that two girls from Hong Kong, whose ages were not disclosed, had a total of 200 mobile phones wrapped around their body when they entered Zhuhai at the Gongbei checkpoint.
The statement said that this was the biggest case of its kind that they have found this year.
