Hong Kong customs officers have intercepted more cross-border trucks suspected of smuggling petrol into the city as fuel prices surge amid the war in the Middle East.
Commissioner of Customs and Excise Chan Tsz-tat said on Wednesday that some of the vehicles had even enlarged their fuel tanks to carry more petrol for supplying illegal petrol stations.
“In the past few weeks, we have uncovered many such cases involving cars that had enlarged their fuel tank capacity and made other modifications,” he said.
“These vehicles have been seized by customs and we will apply to the court for their confiscation as well.”
He added that the figures would be available later in the day.
He noted that the price gap between mainland China and Hong Kong, combined with rising fuel costs, had created an economic incentive for criminals to take the risk.
However, Chan said authorities had a strong intelligence system and would carry out targeted inspections, with many smuggling cases already detected by customs.
