Hong Kong Customs has arrested 10 people and seized HK$10 million (US$1.2 million) worth of fake products, smashing a counterfeit syndicate at the Ladies Market.
It was the largest syndicate caught in three raids by the Customs and Excise Department this year on Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok. In January and August, officers nabbed 12 people and seized HK$7.5 million in fake goods.
Following those busts, the syndicate just nabbed had chosen potential customers more carefully to avoid detection, says Customs official Guy Fong Wing-kai.
“The gang served only tourists from Europe and America,” he says. “They did not approach locals or Asian tourists in case they were undercover customs officers.”
The syndicate sold their goods at 5 to 20 per cent of the genuine products’ price, he says.
An investigation revealed the syndicate sold counterfeit goods at four hawker stalls in the market, using electronic tablets to show clients photos of the products.
“Some clients were taken to its upstairs showroom nearby, which was packed with about 600 counterfeit products,” says Fong. Four nearby flats were used as warehouses, and a female ringleader went to the mainland regularly to buy the fake products.
After a month-long investigation, about 90 Customs officers raided the four hawker stalls, the secret showroom and the four warehouses. Seven men and three women were rounded up and more than 10,000 fake products seized including watches, handbags and leather goods.
Fong says it was Customs’ largest seizure of fake products in a single operation in the past three years.
Aged between 24 and 38 years, the 10 Hongkongers are being held for questioning. None have yet been charged.
Fong says the department will enhance its enforcement activities against counterfeiting during the holiday season. He says that selling counterfeit goods is regarded as a serious crime, carrying a maximum penalty of a HK$500,000 fine and five years in jail.
