Smugglers escape in speedboat,
leaving haul of endangered species and 14 boxes of furs worth a total of HK$2
million
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 12 July,
2016, 5:09pm
Forty-six endangered macaws were
confiscated along with 24 magpie robins and 14 boxes of furs in an
anti-smuggling operation on Lantau Island.
The consignment worth HK$2
million was the first such seizure of live birds in the city in a decade,
according to a police source with knowledge of the operation.
Marine police and customs
officers launched the raid on Monday night as the goods were being loaded on to
a Shenzhen-bound speedboat.
“Because of the scare of bird
flu, no live birds had been discovered in any sea-bound smuggling activities in
the past 10 years,” the source said on Tuesday.
It is understood a macaw is worth
about HK$10,000 in Hong Kong. “But they can be sold for between HK$20,000 and
HK$30,000 each on mainland China,” the source said. “A rare species could be
sold for as much as US$20,000.”
He believed the macaws were
imported into the city legitimately but were being exported illegally to escape
stringent restrictions imposed by mainland authorities.
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