Hong Kong officials say police have shut down a human-smuggling syndicate as part of an operation that allegedly brought 42 Vietnamese illegal immigrants to Hong Kong via the mainland.

Hong Kong police and the Immigration Department, together with the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, mounted the joint operation which began on June 1.

At a press conference on Friday, the superintendent of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, Kwan King-pan, said the illegal immigrants were first brought to Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, adjacent to Vietnam. They were then smuggled into Hong Kong via Shenzhen.

He said the group had operated for more than a year and charged each illegal immigrant HK$30,000.

Since the operation started, Hong Kong police have raided more than 20 locations, seizing HK$100,000 and some mobile phones and banking records suspected to be related to money laundering.

China’s Immigration Department has cracked down on 561 illegal smuggling cases during the first five months this year. Last year, there were 2,278 illegal smuggling cases recorded, according to Chief Immigration Officer Lau Wing-kei.

– TiVi Tuan-san