China-Australia relations: how smuggled lobsters take ‘grey channels’ to Chinese plates via Hong Kong

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China-Australia relations: how smuggled lobsters take ‘grey channels’ to Chinese plates via Hong Kong

• Month-long investigation by the Post reveals how the once wiped-out smuggling of Australian rock lobsters has roared back following an unofficial Chinese ban
• Authorities seizing boatloads of lobsters on both Hong Kong and mainland sides of the border. While some smugglers are caught, ‘they are always the minority’

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A Post investigation reveals that large numbers of Australian rock lobsters are circumventing an unofficial mainland ban by passing through Hong Kong and being smuggled north. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
As the summer heat began to bear down on Hong Kong in the early hours of May 21, four men loaded ice-cold styrofoam boxes onto two speedboats off a pier in the small fishing village of Lau Fau Shan in the city’s northwest.
Their suspected destination was mainland China, just a few kilometres across Deep Bay, in Guangdong province, according to Hong Kong customs.
One of the speedboats never made it out of Hong Kong waters. The other sped off carrying all four men as Hong Kong customs and marine police arrived on the scene and gave chase in a dramatic raid.

Exclusive | Mainlanders shell out for smuggled Australian lobsters via Hong Kong

A month-long investigation by the Post reveals how the once wiped-out smuggling of Australian rock lobsters through Hong Kong has roared back in the wake of last year’s unofficial Chinese ban.

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