Eight arrested in Hong Kong in masked traveller case people

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Eight arrested in Hong Kong in masked traveller case
Asian man disguised as elderly Caucasian male arrived in Vancouver from Hong Kong in October

By Mike Barber, Postmedia News January 10, 2011 10:29 AM Comments (4)

HONG KONG - Eight people — including current and former Hong Kong airport employees — have been arrested in the case of a young Asian man who disguised himself as an elderly passenger on a flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, according to immigration officials.

A spokeswoman for Hong Kong's Immigration Department told Postmedia News on Monday that the suspects were responsible for getting at least nine people into Canada, and could be linked to a boarding pass smuggling ring.

The spokeswoman said a member of the ground staff at Hong Kong International Airport airport and two former airport staff members are among those accused of helping the young man — believed to be a Chinese national in his 20s — to board an Air Canada flight in Hong Kong in October while wearing a mask that made him appear to be an elderly Caucasian.

Once in Canada, the unidentified man requested asylum and is still being detained.

The eight facing charges include five men and three women, all aged between 26 and 62 years old, the spokeswoman said. The immigration department, working in concert with the Hong Kong police's organized crime unit, arrested the unidentified eight between Friday and Sunday as a part of an operation code-named Sandstorm.

The suspects are believed to have been involved in at least five cases between April and October 2010. The spokeswoman said the ring had "smuggled at least nine illegal migrants to Canada."

The spokeswoman said the eight are "suspected to have been involved in boarding-pass swapping, possibly selling, and conspiracy to defraud the airline operator in assisting the illegal migrants to board Canada-bound flights."

The Hong Kong Standard, the city's oldest English newspaper, reported that a two-month investigation found a masked man who allegedly made it through immigration with a genuine passport, then obtained a fake passport and boarding pass in the departure hall before boarding.

The Standard noted a Canadian intelligence report said the masked traveller obtained the boarding pass from a 55-year-old American. However, all eight people arrested during weekend raids were Hong Kong citizens, police told the paper.

Immigration officials told the Standard the syndicate had been charging each client about $45,000 Cdn.

The case captured worldwide attention after a confidential Canada Border Services Agency intelligence report — which included a photo of the man wearing the disguise — was leaked to CNN. The report characterized the incident as an "unbelievable case of concealment."