A cross-border smuggling ring using high-tech equipment to ship smartphones across the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border has been busted, marking the first of such cases.The gadget-savvy criminals used drones to fly wires between buildings on the Hong Kong and mainland sides. Once secured, and using an electric winch and pulley system, the wires formed a high-level crossing to convey contraband from Hong Kong to Shenzhen.The 26 members of the cross-border smuggling ring was found to be shuttling bags of mobile phones worth some 500 million yuan ($79.5 million), mostly refurbished iPhones.The crime ring and its ringleader, surnamed Wu, were detained after a joint operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen law enforcement officers.According to the Shenzhen Customs Office, the suspects temporarily attached wires using flying drones to carry the wires from two rented rooms on the 25th floor of a residential building in Luohu district, Shenzhen, to a home in Lin Ma Hang village on the Hong Kong side. Their accomplices in the special administrative region then threaded the wires through a pulley placed on the rooftop of the home.Once a bag was attached to the wires in Hong Kong, the Shenzhen operatives would use an electric winch to retract the wires. They worked from midnight to the early hours to avoid suspicion, and the two rooms were covered with carpets to reduce the noise of the motor.Chen Liang, spokesperson for Shenzhen Customs, said the ring's every move had been thought through carefully, as neighbors were apparently unaware of the illegal activity.A total of 20 smartphones would be placed inside a small canvas bag and then sent from Hong Kong, ascending high above street level during their journey.About 10,000 to 15,000 smartphones could be smuggled in one day using this delivery method. For each successfully smuggled smartphone, at least 20 to 30 yuan could be earned. Revenues could be as high as 100 yuan for each new phone. It was estimated that smugglers could make over 10 million yuan per month, despite only working for 15 days.Acting on tips, law enforcement officers from both sides smashed the operation in February 2018 after months of investigation.A total of 260 Shenzhen Customs officers raided the rented rooms and arrested several suspects who had just finished retracting the wires to get the bootlegged goods. Also confiscated at the two rented rooms in Shenzhen were 4,000 smartphones and tools used to smuggle them. These included several motors that were burned out from overloaded shipments and backup motors. Hong Kong Customs detained three people connected to the activity, and confiscated 900 smartphones and associated tools.The gang, said to be operating since 2016, were comprised mostly of friends and relatives of Wu, the ringleader from Heyuan, Guangdong province. paper wristbandssilicone braceletsbracelet maker online
Early childhood education in Hong Kong has become big business, attracting more entrepreneurs and increased investment in the industry. [Provided to China Daily] Trade wars and rising interest rates have taken away much of the shine of stocks and properties. If you, like many other Hong Kong investors, are thinking of selling out while the times are still good, you may want to know there's a new game in town that has whetted the interest not only of local entrepreneurs but also millionaire investors on the Chinese mainland. You don't have to be an educator or a social analyst to notice the obsession of many parents in Hong Kong and on the mainland with giving their toddlers a head start. Many children as young as two years of age are drilled by their eager parents to prepare for examinations to qualify for admission to some of the most prestigious nurseries and kindergartens. The strong demand has turned pre-school education into a big business, sucking up hundreds of millions of new investment funds from entrepreneurs, as well as investors who have grown wary of the stock and property markets. As a result, some of the better known play schools and kindergartens have become prized take-over targets. Even the special schools, especially those that teach local pre-school children usage of the English language, are in demand. Investors in pre-school education reportedly include young entrepreneurs who are interested in running the schools. There's no shortage of passive investors who are interested only in the earnings potential of these facilities. A mainland investor has reportedly bought a well-known kindergarten in Hong Kong because he can't get over the fact that he couldn't find a good kindergarten for his children when they were young. In Hong Kong, all kindergartens are privately owned and operated although they have to register with the government and subject to regular inspections by the Education Bureau. Since the introduction of the Quality Assurance Framework in 2012, the government regularly publishes a set of Performance Indicators for public reference. But, it's word of mouth that determines the popularity of a kindergarten. The more famous one can charge a fee of up to several thousand dollars per student. That's good business.
