A haul of about 9,000 items worth at least 5 million patacas (US$625,000) has been seized after customs officers busted an illegal parallel trading activity, the Macau Customs Service said in a statement yesterday.

The statement said that the goods were found in the mezzanine floor of a building near the Barrier Gate on Sunday.

The statement said that seizure was part of its effort to support the government’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures and reduce the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus as parallel traders constantly shuttle between Zhuhai and Macau.

According to the statement, officers recently learnt from social media about the gathering of parallel traders in a building near the Barrier Gate. After investigation, officers suspected that the hidden mezzanine floor of the building was used as a “den” where parallel traders carried out illegal activities.

After days of keeping the building under surveillance, officers followed a 25-year-old man leaving the building on Sunday evening and as he reached the Barrier Gate checkpoint, officers stopped him and checked his suitcase, which had 27 cosmetic goods inside but without a customs declaration form.

The statement said that the suspect admitted that he had collected the items from the “den”, and that he would be paid after delivering them to someone in Zhuhai’s Gongbei border town.

At the same time, other customs officers caught a 29-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman who attempted to leave the “den”. The statement said that officers seized the keys to the mezzanine floor from the man. At the “den” officers discovered a large amount of cosmetics and health food products, all of them without valid import customs declaration forms.

Under questioning the man acknowledged that he was responsible for managing and assigning the delivery of the products.

The statement said that the haul the customs officers seized included more than 9,700 items of well-known cosmetics brands and health food products, which were worth more than 5 million patacas.

The two suspects face a fine of between 1,000 and 50,000 patacas each for breaching the External Trade Law. All the products were confiscated by the government.

The 25-year-old man and the 26-year-old woman are non-resident workers, while the 29-year-old man is a Macau resident.

The statement added that Customs Service is tracing the kingpin behind the parallel trading.

The statement urged members of the public to avoid going out during this critical moment of epidemic prevention work, while reminding them not to engage in parallel trading.

Anyone suspected smuggling activities is urged to call hotline 28965001, or email info@customs.gov.mo.

This handout photo provided by the Macau Customs Service shows the haul of cosmetics and health food products seized from a parallel trading “den” near the Barrier Gate on Sunday.