RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 54

TRANSNATIONAL SMUGGLING OF ALIENSAND STOLEN VEHICLESLau Yuk-kuen*
I. INTRODUCTION
Transnational smuggling is generally
regarded as the moving of unmanifested
goods across and beyond internationallyrecognized boundaries defining thesovereignty of countries. The intention isto evade the control on prohibited items or
legitimate taxation. Since the end of theso-called Cold War, the liberalization of
trade restrictions has increased thepotential of both trade between nations andtrade across the globe. The result has beena growth in organized transnational
smuggling activities involving not only
goods, but also aliens.
T h i s p a p e r, w h i c h w i l l c o v e rtransnational smuggling of aliens andstolen vehicles, is based mainly on theknowledge and experience gained by theHong Kong Police in the investigation ofthese types of crimes. Other law
enforcement agencies are likely to haveencountered similar criminal groups intheir own jurisdictions and identified themethods of operation of such groups, aswell as the extent to which they haveglobalised.
II. SMUGGLING OF ALIENS
The term “alien smuggling” was firstcoined in the United States of America todescribe the organized passage of nonindigenous citizens into the country acrossits land border. “Aliens” are broadly
categorized by the authorities into twogroups according to their personal* Director of Crime and Security, Hong Kong Police
Force Headquarters, Hong Kong.

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circumstances. Those seeking better lives
away from impoverished homelands,
increased employment and financial
opportunities are classified as “economic
aliens”, while those fleeing persecution
because of their different political,
religious, cultural views or because of war
are classified as “political aliens”. It is thesmuggling of the former category, i.e.,
economic aliens, that has become a concern
for an increasing number of police forcesin different parts of the world, and will befocused in this paper.
The smuggling of aliens is different totraditional smuggling in two respects.
Firstly special attention is required toensure the safe carriage of living people.
Secondly illegal aliens represent a dual
benefit for the criminal syndicatesorganizing the clandestine operation.
While goods may earn a profit, aliens not
only pay to be transported but they can also
be used as indentured workers in slave-like
conditions in destination countries. Thus
the profits for the syndicate can be far
greater and longer lasting.
The transport needs for trafficking inaliens varies between the use of air, sea andland routes. Related needs include theacquisition of visas, passports and othertravel documents from corrupt officials orforgery syndicates, the provision of staging
houses en route to destinations toaccommodate the migrants, and thepurchase and modification of vessels for the
carriage of ‘human’ cargoes, plus therelated registration, manifests and import/
export documentation. It is, in short, aresource intensive operation.

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Investigations in Hong Kong andoverseas uncovered criminal syndicatesutilizing increasingly sophisticated means
to transfer aliens out of their homecountries. In 1992, fishing vessels speciallymodified for carrying Chinese illegal
migrants were intercepted in Honolulu andLos Angeles. These dilapidated vessels
were manned by a crew of criminals andenforcers and packed full of paying illegal
migrants. The enforcers maintained
discipline and abused the illegal aliens
until they landed at their destination. The
migrants were then disembarked andtransferred into the criminal economy of
the Chinese underworld. This was
identified as the most common and costeffective method used by smuggling
syndicates at the time.
Before long, smuggling syndicates
upgraded their means of transport toocean-going vessels. However, the degreeof human suffering inflicted on the humancargoes did not diminish with the change
to more powerful conveyance. The grave
tragedy was particularly highlighted in
1993 when the ship “Golden Venture” ranaground off New York, U.S.A. carrying 300
Chinese illegal immigrants, and ten ofthem died whilst attempting to swim
ashore.
The use of open-top containers to
smuggle aliens has been evident more
recently in Hong Kong and interestingly
enough several cases have revealed
Japanese connections. One example which
may illustrate this connection was that in
January 1997 at the port of Kobe. Police
intercepted and arrested 30 Chinese illegal
immigrants who had been concealed in an
open-top container onboard a vessel which
had departed from Hong Kong and was
operated by a Hong Kong-based shipping
company. Intelligence was exchanged
between the Japanese and Hong Kong
Police which resulted in the successfulprosecution of two persons in Hong Kongin connection with the incident.
A second example relates to information
received which indicated that an unknown
number of illegal immigrants were beingtransported to Japan in an open-top
container, again in 1997. Close liaison
between the Hong Kong and Japanese
Police resulted in the container being
searched on its arrival in Japan.
Unfortunately no illegal immigrants were
found. However the container contained
the remnants of food, bottles of water andfaeces, indicating that illegal immigrants
had been loaded and later unloaded
elsewhere.
Whilst smuggling by sea provides aneffective means to transport a large
number of aliens in one single run, the past
few years have also seen the use of long,erratic and circuitous routes over land andby air for those aliens who are willing orable to pay a higher fee, involving the useof forged travel documents or passports
substituted with false particulars. The
land/air route from southeast Asia
meanders through the former Soviet
Union, Europe and South America to the
U.S.A. There are two reasons for this: thedispensation with border controls within
the European Union countries and thecollapse of a centralized authority in
Russia, and the Newly Independent States.
Whatever the mode of transport thesmuggling syndicates use, one common
feature that characterizes their operations
is their reliance on clan relationships todevelop local infrastructures to facilitate
the recruitment of illegal migrants fromtheir home countries, and to organize theirsubsequent illegal employment in thedestinations. Although, when compared todrug trafficking and goods smuggling, aliensmuggling is a relative new comer totransnational crime problems, its potential

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for generating substantial criminal income
for the syndicates involved is apparent.
It has been reported that the price formoving an alien from southern China toJapan is US$20,000 and to the U.S.A,
US$33,000. To fund these fees, illegal
migrants borrow money from relatives orfriends but more usually from thesmuggling syndicates at exorbitant rates
set by them. As a result, both theimmigrants and their family members may
become indentured workers or forced toturn to crime to repay the debts.
An American estimate was that, in 1994,
over 100,000 Chinese illegal immigrants
had arrived in the United States by land,sea or air. A simple calculation indicatesrevenues in excess of US$3 billion is
generated each year from passages alone
but, when indentured work is taken into
account the revenues derived by the
syndicates will be much higher.
Intercepting transnational smuggling
has never been an easy task, aliens
smuggling is particularly so. Because of
their illegal status, aliens do not normallyperceive law enforcement officers as apotential source of assistance, but rather
as a threat to their precarious stay. Suchan attitude is shared by their fellowclansmen and employers, albeit fordifferent reasons, and has resulted inadditional obstacles to law enforcement
agencies in their intelligence gathering.
This, coupled with the fact that smuggling
syndicates are difficult to infiltrate due tolanguage and cultural barriers and that thetrue victims of this type of crime are lessobvious, has naturally meant that the
problem of alien smuggling has notreceived its deserved attention until
recently.

III. SMUGGLING OF STOLENVEHICLES
In contrast with the laborious
requirements for the smuggling of aliens,the moving of vehicles involves
comparatively simple procedures. There
are three principal stages, beginning withacquisition.
(1) First acquiring vehicles, which may be
conducted by stealing by professional
car thieves, or purchase through bogus
trading and transportation companies
using fraudulent means.
(2) C o n c e a l i n g t h e v e h i c l e s f o rtransportation may involve theconstruction of secret compartments
within the conveying vessel. On theother hand, vehicles can be dismantled
and shipped as parts from the source
and reassembled at the destination.
(3) Delivery can simply be by way of adriver taking it across a border, or may
require a team such as the crew whena vessel is used.
In recent years smuggling syndicateshave turned to use containers, which offer
a more flexible alternative with far lower
risks. The use of containers allows thesmuggler to choose a land or sea route fromsource to destination, enables movement
throughout the day and night, shields thecontents from view and, of criticalimportance, allows the use of innocent
parties to handle transportation.
Containers are an internationallyaccepted method for transporting goods byland, sea and air from source to destination
and are thus a better vehicle fortransnational syndicates as they expand
their scope of their operations.
What is more significant is the low level

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108TH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERSof risk faced by smugglers using containers
through legally designated terminals andcustoms checkpoints. Take Hong Kong as
an example. In a normal year, between 13
and 14 million containers are processed
through Hong Kong’s container terminals.
Over 8 million cargoes carrying trains andgoods vehicles arrive and depart each year,
while about 300,000 sea borne cargoes areprocessed. The sheer volume of traffic
renders comprehensive inspection of
shipments impossible.
Actual inspection rates range between
1 to 3 percent. This low rate of inspection
makes chance detection less likely,
especially when combined with theconcealment that comes with a carefully
chosen mode of transport. Between 1991
to 1993, in the detected cases in Hong Kong
only 2 percent of stolen vehicles werecarried in containers. From 1994 to 1997,
this had grown to a massive 71 percent.
Vehicle smuggling syndicates operatewith a high degree of organization in which
participants can be divided into a numberof possibly overlapping roles, such as car
thieves, jockeys, car yard workers, crossborder lorry drivers and the staff of bogus
companies established locally or overseas.
Other participants acting in a support role
will provide concealment and storage of thecontraband, and will arrange for thenecessary manifests, licenses and otherpaper work.
Two cases of syndicated transnational
vehicle smuggling will clearly illustrate themethods of operation used. In the first, in
1997, new left hand drive luxury vehicles
were obtained by syndicate members in the
United States by making the minimum
down payments to genuine car suppliers.
On receipt of the vehicles, the syndicate
would organize its shipment to Hong Kongas perfectly legal goods. Once arrival had
been confirmed by the receivers in Hong

Kong, the syndicate would report thevehicles stolen in the U.S.A.
The remainder of the vehicle cost would
be covered by insurance payments whilethe vehicles were exported to China from
Hong Kong within a few days of arrival. It
was intended that, by the time U.S.
investigators had traced the route takenfrom the U.S.A. the vehicles would havelong crossed the border into China.
The second case is equally illustrative
but may be of more interest to vehicle
owners in Japan. In January 1997, 14
containers in four shipments, originatingfrom Japan were found on arrival tocontain a total of 56 suspected stolen
vehicles. The prompt assistance of liaison
officers in the Consulate General of Japanin Hong Kong led to the early confirmationthat all of these vehicles had already beenreported stolen in Japan.
When the first nine containers arrived
and before the forged papers could bepresented for their release, the consignee
named on the shipping documents wasapproached for payment of charges.
Confirmation that he had not ordered theconsignment triggered a joint Police,
Customs and Excise Department
investigation.
By tracing the syndicate back throughthe tractor driver who turned up to collectthe cargo, three arrests were made. One of
the arrested persons was known to thepolice for his involvement in vehicle crimes,
and a web of false addresses, bogus
companies and sham consignees wasestablished.
Investigation by officers of the Tokyo
Metropolitan Police Department confirmed
not only the places from which therecovered vehicles had been stolen, namely,
Chiba, Kanagawa, and Tokyo, but also

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details of the shipping company and agent
responsible for sending the containers toHong Kong. Investigation also indicatedthat the syndicate comprises of probably
five to six Chinese criminals who had senta further six containers, containing 19
stolen vehicles, in three shipments to HongKong. These vehicles were subsequently
recovered. This, however, is the only
known case of transnational smuggling ofstolen vehicles involving a Hong Kong
Chinese syndicate.
The above examples have shown thatinternational co-operation is vital in thedetection of vehicle smuggling. Many law
enforcement officers are already aware of
the availability of the International Stolen
Vehicle Database, which is maintained by
the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon,
France. This facility enables countries to
input and retrieve details of stolen vehicles
which is an invaluable tool forinternational cooperation in theinvestigation and neutralization of vehicle
smuggling syndicates.
IV. TACTICS IN TACKLING THE
PROBLEM
Having detailed the scope and nature of
the problem, it is worthwhile to describe
some of the measures that have been taken
to counter smuggling activities,
unilaterally, bilaterally or multi-laterally
by law enforcement agencies.
Firstly, the primary tool in all police
investigations and operations is the timely
and effective use of criminal intelligenceto the benefit of prosecuting those involved.
Anti-transnational smuggling is no
exception. In the earlier part of thispresentation, the difficulties in cultivating
information on the activities of thosesyndicates involved have been explained.
They include cultural and language
barriers, the code of silence shared by those58

people who know what is going on, and theutilization of clan relationships by theclosely knitted syndicates. Despite all these
difficulties, given the large volume of tradeand passenger traffic that goes througheach major port every day, an operationthat is not supported by good intelligencecan not stand any realistic chance of
success. To give the problems the priorities
they deserve and to assign an appropriate
level of resources will be the first important
step towards developing a more effective
intelligence system against these activities.
Secondly, and what many law enforcers
consider to be of most importance, is theidentification of the “money trails” and theseizing of the syndicates’ assets. Money, inthe quantities now involved cannot, despite
the best efforts of criminals, move easily
or without leaving a trace. Furthermore
such trails often provide a clue to the size
and the sophistication of the syndicates andtheir operations. As a result of making it
an offence to assist criminals in laundering
their crime proceeds and by empowering
the court to confiscate such proceeds,
enforcement actions have succeeded inbringing members of smuggling syndicatesto justice and in tracing and seizing theassets that they have derived from theirillicit activities.
U s e d i n t e l l i g e n t l y, m o n e t a r yinvestigation can be a great aid to tacklingtransnational organized criminal
syndicates. Early detection of unusual
monetary movements may provide a timely
indication of how and where criminalgroups move their funds. In this regard
the Hong Kong Police is keen to continue
with the development of efficientmonitoring programmes in liaison withcountries to which the flow of criminal
assets is directed.
Thirdly, co-operation from those
innocent parties that have been

108TH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR
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unwittingly involved in the process is tobe secured. In this regard, the Hong Kong
Police has attempted to establish wider
communication channels with its locally
based shipping companies who can provide
invaluable information concerning thebooking of open-top containers or othercircumstances which meet known
smuggling profiles.
F o u r t h l y, l i a i s o n w i t h o v e r s e a s
authorities in the affected destinations is
also maintained for the speedy exchange
of intelligence and information on
smuggling activities so that action can betaken to intercept and arrest syndicate
operatives. Past investigations show thattime is always a critical factor which can
influence the outcome of anti-transnational
smuggling operations. Hong Kong is in a
fortunate position to have a number ofLegal Liaison Officers from countries in the
Pacific Rim posted to the Territory whichenables the speedy passage of information
to take place.
Last, but by no means least, weaving the
disparate strands of information together
to form a usable picture is now far easier.
Technology has played a major role and theHong Kong Police has been fortunate
enough to be able to develop analyticalprogrammes which can link scraps ofinformation on people, places and things
together in an orderly structure which canbe interactively apprised by intelligence
analysts.
These tactics are by no means
exhaustive. To be able to keep an upper
hand in the fight against the criminal
syndicates who are a blight on society,continued effort in looking for new
techniques is a must.
V. CONCLUSION
As long as smuggling is a profitable

activity there will be criminals who will
weigh the relative risks and rewards oftheir actions and decide to take the chance.
Unchecked at an early stage, such activities
will globalise, and become a major law
enforcement problem.
To counter this trend, a way has to befound to increase their risk and to reduce
their reward. If their chance to make profit
is reduced, or the opportunity to keep it
once made can be taken away, the incentive
for them to become criminally involved insmuggling may be reduced; although it cannever be completely removed.
Whilst increased efforts in identifying
suspect vessels used in sea-borne
smuggling operations, and increased
penalties for those found to be modifing or
adapting these for use in transporting
illegal immigrants can reduce the meansof transportation available to smuggling
syndicates, an enhanced intelligencesystem can provide the much needed basefrom where enforcement actions can be
guided with greater accuracy.
On the international level, co-operation
between not only the countries directly
affected, but those who will be affected bychanges in routes or the influx of criminal
funds, are needed to thwart the massive
networks and resources that smugglingorganizations possess.
Given the economic and politicaldifferences that exist amongst countries
today, one does not require a crystal ball to
predict that smuggling activities willcontinue to thrive. It has already been
widely accepted among social scientists
that “social problems will rarely be solved
but only be alleviated”. As far as smugglingof aliens and stolen vehicles is concerned,
this statement only represents half of thetruth. For police officers who have been
involved in the fight against such activities,

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they all know that even alleviation will notcome easily, and not without a concerted
international enforcement effort.

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