Category: Police
Another attempt to smuggle large African tortoises into Lantau
Around 20 young African spurred tortoises were found abandoned in Mui Wo last night – the second local incident involving the species within two weeks.
Ten days ago police found an African spurred tortoise among a haul of items confiscated from smugglers in Tai O. The latest incident appears to also involve an unsuccessful attempt to smuggle the creatures into Hong Kong.
A man reportedly came across the tortoises in a bag in the car park next to the Mui Wo Ferry Pier Road dock at about 6pm and called the police, Oriental Daily reports.
An AFCD spokesperson said 19 tortoises – each about 30 cm in length – were found in several linen bags in the car park and had been brought back to the AFCD’s Animal Management Center in Sheung Shui for temporary care.
The African spurred tortoise is the world’s third largest tortoise, capable of growing to 83 cm. It takes 15 years to reach maturity but live for more than 100 years.
It is listed under the Endangered Species Ordinance, meaning that owners must be able to establish its legal provenance, such as the invoice issued by the store.
They are not endangered but import and export are banned under the CITES treaty and they classified by the UN as vulnerable because of the disappearance of their habitat and their popularity as a pet.
Police are searching for the owner of the bags.
Photo: A young African spurred tortoise (RyanSeiler, Wikimedia)
Lantau cab driver arrested for overcharging during typhoon
A taxi driver called Ho must be one of the unluckiest people in Hong Kong.
The 60-year-old Lantau taxi driver was arrested by police last night for overcharging fares during Typhoon Merbok, HK01 reported today.
Following complaints about cabs refusing fares and hiking prices during typhoons, plainclothes officers went to the Tung Chung MTR taxi stand at 5pm, just before T8 was hoisted.
A cab driven by Ho arrived at the rank and, after asking their destination, he allegedly asked for a fare well above the standard price.
Ho was arrested under section 40 of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations, which forbids a driver from asking for an inducement, with a penalty of a $10,000 fine and six months jail.
This police sting might prompt surprise among regular customers of Lantau cabs, where soliciting for higher fares is a widely-reported practice.
Among Hong Kong taxis in general, raising the price during the typhoon is also not unusual because of the limited number of cabs and the urgent demand. The arrested driver can count himself unlucky.
Police seize endangered tortoise in $3.4m smuggling bust
Hong Kong police and customs seized illegal $3.4 million in contraband, including an endangered tortoise, after disrupting smugglers at Tai O on Tuesday night.
Acting on a tip-off, Marine Police and customs officers found a group of men loading packages aboard a speedboat in Tai O at about 8pm, Apple Daily reports.
As officers moved in, the speedboat took off and fled toward Chinese waters. Marine police intercepted the craft and forced it back toward Tai O port, but the driver of the boat escaped along with seven men on the shore.
Law enforcement officers seized 35 suspected smuggled goods at the scene including African spurred tortoise, which is on the UN endangered list and a CITES-protected species. The goods, which also included animal fur and amber among, had a total market value of about HK$3.4 million.
Photo: Melissa Mitchell (Baseballchck02 at en.wikipedia), Creative Commons
Body washed ashore near Tong Fuk
Police are investigating a body found washed ashore between Tong Fuk and Shui Hau.
The body was discovered by a dragon boat team member near the Tong Fuk Temple at about 10am yesterday. The man is aged 50 to 60 years, about 160cm tall, and was clothed and wearing black socks, Sing Tao reported.
Police believe the body had been brought ashore after being in the water for possibly a week. It was already starting to decompose and some skin had begun to peel.
The body carried no identification. Police have arranged for a post-mortem to determine the cause of death and will check missing persons records.
Police warning after spate of Tong Fuk burglaries
Lantau police have called on local residents to take extra security measures following a spate of burglaries in Tong Fuk.
Police have stepped up uniformed patrols after three burglaries in the past week, the last on Saturday morning on the eastern edge of the village.
Chief Inspector David Bennett of Lantau South police said householders should exercise “heightened vigilance.”
“Checking doors, windows, telling your neighbours to keep an eye out for your premises if you are away for days. Getting security enhancements – locks, door chains, window bars, motion sensor spotlights, etc will all help.”
South Lantau is a favoured target for mainland thieves because of the large number of accessible and poorly-secured premises. Burglaries often happen in clusters before offenders either get caught or return to the mainland.
Bangladeshi man dies in Lantau cliff fall after illegal entry by boat
A Bangladeshi man died after a cliff fall in southwest Lantau early this morning after arriving illegally by boat from mainland China.
The man had tried to climb a cliff at Kau Ling Chung when he fell, losing consciousness, SCMP.com reported.
He was one of a party of ten who had come ashore at the remote site at around daybreak. Police received a call at around 8:30am, but took more than an hour to locate the group because they could not give their exact location.
“Police were first told they were hikers. They later revealed they were Bangladeshi illegal immigrants who arrived from the mainland by boat,” a police source said.
“Due to the strong current and high waves, our boats were unable to berth and pick up the group,” a police spokesman said, adding that a Government Flying Service helicopter was also unable to deploy due to bad weather.
The man was rescued by Marine Police at 11am and taken to North Lantau Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Post said people smugglers may have tried to bring the men into Hong Kong undetected under the cover of today’s bad weather.
After a rash of illegal arrivals on Lantau early last year, number of unauthorised entries has fallen sharply as a result of greater surveillance. Most arrivals are from South Asian countries.
Photo: Kau Ling Chung (Lantau News)
Dodging bullets on a Lantau trail
A surprise encounter with a cache of bullets sent police rushing up Nga Ying Shan this week.
Local resident Venus Khongphet and friend Mark Tee came across the hoard of around 800 bullets while hiking down a remote path on Tsim Fung Shan near Tai O on Tuesday.
Venus posted photos of the find to a local Facebook page. Forum members quickly told her they were likely blanks or expended cartridges used in British military training exercises 30 or so years ago. One Facebook friend called the police.
So Venus and Mark had another unexpected encounter when they exited the hike at Shek Pik – seven or eight members of South Lantau’s finest.
“We knew the bullets would be tricky to find, even when we pointed out their approximate location to the police on a map,” Venus later posted on her own Facebook page. So she headed home for a cold beer and left it to her friend to guide the police to the spot. As she explains:
Mark returned to Tai O and he, a uniformed police sergeant, and two ordnance experts climbed up to Nga Ying Shan, and managed to find the pile of bullets again. After the experts assessed they were safe to move the pile was collected into four or five heavy bags, carried safely down off the mountain, and taken away for further processing.
They eventually thanked Mark for his cooperation and sent him home buzzed with the excitement of having ascended an extra peak in the failing light on an empty stomach, and blessed with the opportunity to contribute to law and order on Lantau.
I was very impressed with the Lantau Police and their quick response. I was very scared to see these bullets, and I think the two guys who do this kind of cleanup are very brave. Even my friend Mark put in a big effort to help find the bullets again. It’s great to be part of the caring Lantau community.
She reminds that bullets are dangerous. “If you see them on the trail please look but don’t touch them. Report them to the police immediately.”
RTHK reported that police found the bullet stockpile “not suspicious.”
$10,000 reward: Race against time to find stolen baby owls
Local resident William Sargent is offering HK$10,000 reward for the urgent return of two baby owls stolen from the Tung Chung Country Park yesterday.
The young owls are unlikely to survive without their parents.
Better-known as Lantau’s ‘snake man’, Sargent has posted an audio feed that partially captures the theft.
Sargent says the person is likely to be of Pakistani Muslim/Punjabi background. He used the name (a common name) ‘Raja’ referring to himself.
He may be based in Tung Chung and if we can spread the word to this community, we may have the luck we need to find him and more importantly, the baby Owls which are very unlikely to survive without their parents. The police are aware of this case, but have indicated what we are doing now will be the best chance of success.
Source: William Sargent
The owls were taken in the general location of the petrol station on the Tung Chung Road.
Owls are a protected species in Hong Kong, with penalties of up to HK$5 million fine and two years jail for harming them.
Those with information can contact TungChungOwl@gmail.com or call 9470 8442.
The trouble with EVA
Mui Wo’s EVA is a hot mess, but change may be coming.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not illegal to drive on the emergency vehicle access road through the Mui Wo hinterland.
The road, created decades ago by the CEDD when it built the drainage and sewerage system, has never been gazetted and remains a private road. The only roads where it is illegal to drive without a permit are short sections near the junction of Ngan Shek and Ngan Shu streets (above) in Mui Wo.
The Transport Department is reviewing the road’s legal status and whether it needs to be upgraded. The options are to retain as it is, to upgrade it and formally declare it a prohibited zone, or even to open it up as a public road. But with at least half a dozen government agencies and local rural committee involved, any change will take time.
EVA is under the purview of the District Office, a unit of the Home Affairs Department. But administration of the road also involves the Transport, Lands and Highways departments, police and fire services, and even Architectural Services and Building Services departments.
South Lantau police commander Chief Inspector David Bennett says that the push to develop Lantau South and the extra population that will bring means government agencies are required to look at whether declaring an EVA road “is a realistic prospect.”
He said that at his first meeting with Mui Wo leaders two years he asked if they could identify the EVA road – none could. Broadly speaking he says the ‘EVA road’ is the Rural Committee Rd. As a private road, it is not illegal to drive on it without a permit. Vehicles cannot be prosecuted for speeding, although police can hand out fines for reckless driving.
To reach the EVA road drivers must pass through the prohibited zones on Ngan Shu or Ngan Shek streets. It’s technically an offence to drive on those without a permit and police may be able to prosecute if they have a witness or evidence of the offence taking place.
The Mui Wo EVA is quite different from others in Hong Kong in being close to population. In Yuen Long and Shek O the EVAs have clear rules and are not in built-up areas.
Bennett says that in the short-term physical upgrades may be likely, such as installation of mirrors, warning signs, yellow lines and passing places.
In the long term, the question is “what does the District Office expect of this road in terms of meeting community expectations?”
Man admits sex with dog in Tung Chung
A 58-year-old man has pleaded guilty to one count of bestiality with a dog near Tung Chung.
Chung Lin-fai, a former welder, admitted that he had used a piece of bread to entice a two-year-old female dog to a stream near Wong Lung Hang Rd, Tung Chung on February 1. Continue reading
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