Curious Contraband Confiscated

Some 9,000 bottles of contraband wine were seized in a raid

On December 11 and 12, Hong Kong Customs seized a huge haul of contraband goods that was destined for Shanghai, but officials have only now let the media know.

The market value of the goods confiscated from two ocean-going vessels at Tsing Yi Container Terminal is valued at HK$200 million (US$25.6 million).

So what contraband was found?

Most of the wines were from Penfolds

Nine thousands bottles of wine, mostly Penfolds from Australia. China had imposed a 175 percent tariff on the wine's parent company, Treasury Wine Estates, so importers found other creative ways to bring the popular Penfolds into the mainland. The other bottles were Moet et Chandon Champagne and Japanese sake brand Dassai.

In addition there were also about 22 tons of expensive food items, such as shark's fin, fish maw and dried sea cucumber. This demonstrates not only the massive appetite of Chinese for shark's fin that has been mostly eradicated in Hong Kong, but also they seem desperate to eat these delicacies.

Then there's 140,000 electronic goods which are not clarified as to what they are, and 4,000 boxes of medicine and endangered species.

The medicine is probably because China doesn't have enough on pharmacy shelves and people are desperate as they have become infected with Covid-19 or have flu-like symptoms. Relatives in Hong Kong have told me Chinese people have snapped up all the medicine in Australia, the United States and Hong Kong to send to their relatives back home. Sound familiar?

A classical music lover won't get his vinyl haul!

And last but not least, the quirkiest contraband item confiscated was 7,000 vinyl records. From the scant pictures, it shows one is a recording of Dvorak's cello concerto Faure Elegy in French, and Belgian violinist Arthur Grumiaux playing seven violin concertos. So were these classical music records just for one person or a group of vinyl fanatics? 

Sadly they won't be able to listen to any of them anytime soon...

Five men ranging in age from 38 to 54 were arrested.