Hong Kong police arrest 28 men found on Po Toi Island on suspicion of entering the city illegally

Hong Kong police have arrested 28 South Asian men on an outlying island on suspicion of entering the city illegally, the fifth case of its type in the space of a week.

The arrests came after police were alerted at 9.15am on Saturday to people acting suspiciously on Po Toi Island.

Officers arrived at the scene and found 28 men aged between 20 and 44 – 18 from Bangladesh, seven from India and three from Pakistan – who were unable to present valid identification documents.

The men were arrested on suspicion of illegal entry to Hong Kong and held for further investigation.

The force detained a total of 28 Bangladeshi nationals aged from 19 to 48 on Waglan Island the day before who were also alleged to have come to Hong Kong illegally.

The cases followed a string of arrests made by police in connection with suspected illegal entry.

Officers arrested 19 Pakistani men and a suspected mainland Chinese trafficker earlier this week over entering the city illegally.

The people detained included nine rescued from a deserted island where they were believed to have been stranded for two days without supplies.

South Asia to Hong Kong: route via mainland ‘popular’ with undocumented entrants

The force revealed the two separate cases on Monday, with one involving the group of nine that was on its way from Shenzhen to Hong Kong but was found marooned on Sunday on Shue Long Chau in Sai Kung.

A police source said the group flew from Pakistan to Urumqi, the capital of mainland China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, before they another flight to Guangzhou and then on to Shenzhen.

The other case involved 10 Pakistani men and a mainlander who were intercepted in Deep Bay, in the northwestern waters of the city on Monday.

Police said they were investigating whether the two cases are related.

19 Pakistanis arrested over illegal entry to Hong Kong, some in island rescue

Officers also arrested 15 men aged from 21 to 48 on suspicion of illegally entering the city near High Island Reservoir in Sai Kung on Wednesday.

Police figures show 848 people suspected of being in the city illegally were arrested in the first nine months this year, including 266 from Vietnam, 244 from the mainland, 183 from Bangladesh and 112 Pakistanis.

Eight people from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan were arrested over illegal entry to the city late last month.

Some were spotted wearing life jackets and floating off Tai A Chau Island, part of the Soko Islands near Lantau, before they were rescued by authorities after a 13-hour search.