A nationwide E anti-smuggling achievements exhibition attracted many Hong Kong visitors after it opened at the China Hi-Tech Fair Exhibition Center in Shenzhen on Thursday (Jan. 6).

The Hong Kong marine police and customs sent delegations to the exhibition, which was highly praised for its comprehensive contents.

Some Hong Kong people came in groups. A gray-haired senior people surnamed Yang said he had heard about the exhibition and was eager to see how the anti-smuggling forces worked.

Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua, Shenzhen Mayor Li Hongzhong, Commissioner of Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department Timothy H. M. Tong and Director General of Macao Customs Choi Lai-hang attended the opening ceremony.

During the past two years, Shenzhen Customs has strengthened ties with its Hong Kong counterpart to combat rampant smuggling of edible oil, gasoline, pirated CDs, pornography, used tires and frozen food. The most notable achievement was the "tsunami campaign," which led to two international drug rings being broken up in November, 2003.

The campaign seized 24.3 kilograms of drugs worth more than 400,000 yuan (US$48,000) from rings known as "seafood" and "seadog" in smuggling circles. The joint efforts by customs on both sides drove a quarter of the supply out of Hong Kong's underground drug market, according to Shenzhen Customs.

"We had regular meetings with our Hong Kong peers twice a year at headquarters level. Our branch offices in Luohu, Huanggang and Shatoujiao had meetings with Hong Kong customs officers once every three months," said Ma Zhongyuan, deputy general director of Shenzhen Customs.

Last year, Shenzhen and Hong Kong customs launched a campaign against smugglers trafficking goods through Zhongying Street, a street straddling the border between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

The exhibition was sponsored by the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. It was staged in Beijing in November and Nanjing in December, 2004. Shenzhen is the last stop.

The exhibition, which lasts until next Wednesday, had a total of 16,000 visitors Thursday, the highest number for a single day during its tour of the three cities.

A sniff dog demonstrates detecting drugs at the exhibition.

Editor: Olivia