Customs seized 45 million dollars' worth of pharmaceutical contraband

The Customs and Excise Department has busted several substance smuggling cases over the past five months -- seizing over 7,700 injection vials with suspected weight-loss substances and close to 2 million pharmaceutical products with a combined worth of over 45 million dollars.

Authorities seized large number of injection vials with suspected weight loss substances mostly displayed in Japanese.

The smuggled items also included cigars with German labels.

This as the Customs and Excise Department noted it has strengthened efforts to tackle the smuggling of substances via air and sea transport.

Among the contraband were two packages that allegedly contained health food and nutritional products mailed by air from Japan to Hong Kong.

Officers subsequently found more than 2,800 injection vials containing the suspected weight loss substance, with an estimated worth of over 4.5 million dollars.

Authorities also seized another 2,900 vials containing beauty substances and over 1.9 million pharmaceutical products on a vessel travelling from the city to Macao.

The items have a combined value of over 40 million dollars.

Customs said much of the smuggled items required designated permits before they could be exported.

It added that usage of them may carry health risks since many of the products were not stored at correct temperatures.

The Customs and Excise Department believes syndicates engaged in the smuggling of the contraband attempted to export the products to another location before selling them.