Hong Kong police arrest 4 men over illegal entry after stopping taxi on outlying island, in latest case involving unauthorised arrivals from South Asia

Hong Kong police have arrested four men on suspicion of illegal entry after intercepting a taxi on an outlying island in the latest operation amid a series of unauthorised arrivals from South Asian countries.

Officers were called to Nam Chung Tsuen at the fishing village of Tai O on Lantau Island at around 8.49am on Monday after a villager found a group of people suspected to have entered the city illegally, according to the force.

A police spokesman said the group left before officers arrived, prompting a search of the island.

13 suspected illegal immigrants stranded on outlying Hong Kong island rescued

About 1½ hours later, police intercepted a taxi near the Shek Mun Kap area of the island on Tung Chung Road. The two sites are about 20km (12 miles) apart.

The spokesman said the four suspected illegal immigrants, three believed to be from India and one from Vietnam, were inside the vehicle.

The suspects, aged between 22 and 29, were detained on suspicion of illegal entry. Detectives from the Lantau Island criminal investigation unit are handling the case.

On Tuesday last week, police arrested a Pakistani man at the same village after a hiker found a group of suspected illegal immigrants in the area.

Hong Kong authorities have asked for help from mainland counterparts and stepped up land and sea patrols in the wake of the arrest of more than 100 people from South Asia who have entered the city from across the border in just nine days last month.

Separately, marine police mounted an operation, code-named Flowingshade, in southern and western waters early on Saturday. At around 4am, they intercepted a speedboat about 3km off Fan Lau, on the southwestern tip of Lantau Island, and arrested two suspected smugglers on board. The pair were mainland men, aged 22 and 43.

In a follow-up search on shore, officers found 11 illegal immigrants from South Asia hiding in dense bushes near a lighthouse at Fan Lau at around 6am. The 11 men – seven Bangladeshis, three Pakistanis and an Indian – were arrested on suspicion of illegal entry to the city.

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

Authorities intercepted 848 illegal immigrants in the first nine months of the year, including from top-of-the-list Vietnam with 266, 244 from the mainland, 183 from Bangladesh and 112 from Pakistan.

Sources said the people recently taken into custody could have taken advantage of relaxed travel restrictions by mainland authorities for visitors from South Asian countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The insiders added the easier visa system allowed people to travel to the mainland before they were taken to coastal areas in Guangdong, where “snakeheads” smuggled them to Hong Kong by speedboat.