The Macau Customs Service said in a statement on Saturday that three men were arrested on Thursday for smuggling 100 mobile phones by exploiting a gap between the fences at the Hengqin joint border checkpoint.
The statement said the three mainland suspects had temporary Macau stay permits and are aged from 23 to 44.
According to the statement, the Customs Service was recently tipped off about contraband activities at the border checkpoint, and on Thursday customs officers saw three men with two suitcases getting on a bus going to the Hengqin checkpoint. The statement said the trio got off the bus at the checkpoint and two of them went to the metal fence, where they attempted to place the luggage on the other side of the fence by exploiting a gap in it. The other man was the lookout.
The statement said the customs officers apprehended the duo on the spot and seized the suitcases, with one being empty and the other one containing 100 used phones. The duo told the police that they were smuggling old mobile phones from Macau to the mainland on the instructions of others, and they revealed where the lookout was hiding, said the statement, adding that he was also caught later.
Four more suspects were still on the run when the statement was released, while the trio have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing smuggling and organised crime charges, according to the statement.
This undated handout photo provided by the Macau Customs Service shows the two mobile phone smugglers squatting under the watchful eyes of customs officers at the Macau-Hengqin checkpoint on Thursday.
