A cross-border syndicate forged Hong Kong identity cards for illegal workers

Hong Kong immigration authorities arrested 97 people in a joint operation with mainland China targeting an ID forgery syndicate that was sending illegal workers to the city, with local officers masquerading as couriers to apprehend the suspects.

According to authorities, another 104 suspects were arrested on the mainland.

So Chun-ho, a senior chief immigration officer at the Immigration Department, said on Thursday that local authorities and officers from Guangxi, Guangdong and Shenzhen carried out the arrests in July and August.

“The syndicate could attract people who claim to make a lot of money in Hong Kong and provide one-stop services such as producing fake identity cards, housing and employment guarantees to lure mainlanders to work in Hong Kong. Kong,” So said.

As such, border authorities first noticed the syndicate in May, when members created chat groups on instant messaging apps on the mainland to attract people who wanted to work illegally in Hong Kong. Each of them paid between 1,000 yuan (US$140) and 2,000 yuan to buy fake identity cards before entering the city.

To avoid detection, the syndicate will also deliver the cards to its members in the city using courier services. The members then handed over the documents to the illegal workers.

“On the day of the operation, our investigators, under the guise of couriers, simultaneously carried out a controlled delivery in different places of the city, detaining the recipients of the parcels,” So said.