Cross-border union forged Hong Kong identity cards for illegal workers

Hong Kong immigration authorities have arrested 97 people in a joint operation with mainland China targeting an ID-forgery syndicate that sent illegal workers into the city, with local officers disguising themselves as delivery workers to apprehend them on suspects.

Another 104 suspects were arrested on the mainland, according to authorities.

So Chun-ho, a senior 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 would lure people with claims of making big money to Hong Kong and provide ‘one-stop shop’ services such as producing fake identity cards, accommodation and job guarantees to attract mainlanders to come to work in Hong. Kong,” said So.

So authorities across the border first noticed the syndicate in May, as members would set up chat groups on mainland instant messaging apps seeking to recruit people willing to work illegally in Hong Kong. Each paid between 1,000 yuan ($140) and 2,000 yuan to buy fake ID cards before coming to the city.

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

“On the day of the operation, our investigators disguised themselves as delivery workers, launching a controlled delivery to various locations in the city while arresting the recipients of the packages,” said So.