World
Hong Kong seizes smuggled Australian lobsters amid China ban
Hong Kong and mainland authorities have seized about $728,000 really worth of smuggled Australian lobsters considered to be sure for the mainland, just after China limited imports of the crustacean amid escalating tensions with Australia.
Hong Kong authorities claimed at a news convention Friday that its customs and Chinese legislation enforcement agencies confiscated about 5,300 kilograms of lobsters and arrested 13 persons.
The seizure came soon after a the latest surge in the import volume of Australian lobsters to Hong Kong, right after China imposed an unofficial ban on the imports late previous year.
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Officials claimed month-to-month imports of Australian lobster to Hong Kong have because a lot more than doubled.
China's lobster ban came just after the Australian government pushed for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
China has since blocked trade on other Australian imports, this kind of as wine, barley, cotton and coal.
“We think that smuggling syndicates may well make use of inappropriate indicates to smuggle Australian lobsters to mainland China to request earnings,” reported Rita Li of Hong Kong's Syndicate Crimes Investigation Bureau.
She explained the lack of Australian lobsters on the mainland has fuelled the smuggling through Hong Kong.
