Hong Kong Customs Seizes Shipment of Smuggled Frozen Meat En Route to China

Hong Kong Customs recently seized about $6.4 million worth of smuggled frozen meat en route to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Dec. 6. Customs authorities seized the shipments, which weighed 540 metric tons, in Hong Kong waters after they were smuggled onto four fishing boats off of a Hong Kong pier, the report said. The fishing boats did not have refrigeration facilities, USDA said, and the meat was composed of “high-value beef products” from “various countries,” including the U.S. and Europe. The agency called it the “largest detection of smuggled meats both in terms of value and volume in the past decade.” The meats included cuts of beef such as “shanks, ribs” and “round,” but no pork.