Mainland Chinese customs officers seize goods inside backpacks of pupils who said they smuggled the items in return for a McDonald’s meal or ice cream
Parents and educators have been alarmed by the detention of who were trying to sneak almost 1 million yuan (HK$1.14 million) worth of smartphones and expensive Chinese delicacies from Hong Kong into Shenzhen. The 10 children, who cross the border into Hong Kong daily to attend school, said they were not trying to make money, but were motivated by the promise of McDonald’s food and ice cream if they successfully smuggled the goods into Shenzhen, a mainland online news outlet reported. The reports said the children lining up to go through the border crossing between Hong Kong and the mainland at Huanggang were carrying on Tuesday afternoon. Mainland Chinese customs officers found 90 Apple iPhone 7s, 100 iPhone 6s, 20 Samsung S8s and 10kg of bird’s nest – an edible Chinese delicacy made from solidified bird saliva – inside their backpacks. Officers seized the goods and lectured the young students on what they had done wrong. The children are among about 28,000 students who cross the border from Shenzhen each day to attend school in Hong Kong – a number which has been growing in the past five years, according to Hong Kong government statistics.
