Hong Kong Customs Seize Record $3.2m Diamond Haul
June 06, 21
(IDEX Online) - Diamonds worth $3.2m were seized by customs officers in Hong Kong, in what is being described as "the biggest-ever seizure of this kind".
Over 1,300 undeclared diamonds, weighing 0.3-cts to 2.0-cts, plus 330 grams of melee, were found in two backpacks in the back a truck that was stopped for inspection at the Sha Tau Kok control point last Thursday. They were destined for Shenzen, China.
Customs officers believe they were being brought into China to avoid import restrictions and taxes, possibly by a cross-border smuggling syndicate.
The truck was also carrying almost $2.5m of gold bars that had been declared, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
"We believe the diamonds were bound for factories across the border, where they would be turned into jewellery before being sold in the mainland market," Mark Woo Wai-kwan, senior superintendent of the Customs and Excise Department, told the paper. "It is the biggest-ever seizure of this kind."
The 47-year-old male driver was arrested on suspicion of exporting unmanifested cargo.
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