A male non-resident worker illegally hired two men to smuggle 94 second-hand smartphones to Zhuhai and sell them there, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheuk Kou Chi said at a press conference on Wednesday.
However, they failed in the attempt.
The trio were nabbed by the police last Saturday when they were about to prepare their smuggling operation in a car park in the northern district, Cheuk said.
The three suspects comprise two mainlanders who are non-resident workers and a Hong Kong resident – a 30-year-old deliveryman surnamed Tang, a 35-year-old administrator surnamed Lin and a 35-year-old Hong Kong jobless man surnamed Lam.
According to Cheuk, a security guard of a residential building told the Public Security Police last Friday that while he was on patrol in the building’s car park three men ran away when they saw him, leaving many smartphones behind. The guard had called the police about the case. Police officers went to the scene to investigate and seized the 94 phones left there by the three men.
The trio returned to the car park the next day. When the security guard saw them he immediately called the police again. PSP officers arrived at the scene and took the trio to a police station for questioning.
‘Brother Cat’
Cheuk said Tang told the police that he was hired by a man named “Brother Cat” (貓哥) to smuggle second-hand smartphones to Zhuhai and sell them there. They struck a deal that Tang could get 150 patacas for every twelve phones he sold. “Brother Cat” arranged for Tang to meet a man at an eatery in Estrada dos Caveleiros in Areia Preta last Friday night to collect 94 smartphones from that man.
Afterwards, Tang contacted two friends, Lin and a man surnamed Choi, who joined him in smuggling the smartphones separately to Zhuhai. They met in a car park of a residential building in Rua Dois do Bairro Iao Hon where they came across the security guard who was on patrol there while they were distributing the 94 smartphones among themselves before smuggling them separately to Zhuhai.
The trio thought that the guard was a policeman in plainclothes, dropped the batch of smartphones and ran away.
Cheuk said Tang and Lin returned to the building in Iao Hon the following day to try to find the smartphones. They met Lam while on their way and Tang and Lam struck a deal according to which Lam could get 100 patacas for every 12 smartphones he sold in Zhuhai. They then went together to the building and again came across the same security guard who immediately called the Public Security Police. Tang refused to cooperate with the police. At the time of Wednesday’s press conference, the Public Security Police were still looking for “Brother Cat” and Choi.
The trio were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Monday, facing charges of breaching the non-resident workers employment law, while Tang also faces an illegal employment charge, according to Cheuk.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Wednesday shows 94 second-hand smartphones seized from the three suspects.
