Children used to smuggle items into mainland China

The Macao Customs Service and Gongbei Customs recently conducted a joint operation between February 7 and 9 to combat smuggling.

Several people were found smuggling items to mainland China using school-aged children and equipment for children such as infant strollers.

According to a Customs statement, the Macau and Zhuhai customs authorities deployed a total of 340 people during the joint operation. The two departments recorded 58 violations of customs law, including cases of people transporting fresh food between Macau and mainland China.

The Customs statement reads that smugglers paid intermediaries to bring items from Macau to mainland China. Those items include electronic devices, cigarettes and alcohol.

In total, eight cases involved school-aged children and three cases involved the use of infant strollers to smuggle items to mainland China. These cases combined represent 19 percent of all smuggling cases.

In September last year, the Macau government joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

For the first time as part of the joint initiative, Customs authorities seized species listed on the convention.

According to the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau’s identification, the seized items consisted of 26 crocodile and one ostrich leather product.