The Customs and Excise Department and Hong Kong Fire Services Department seized about 30,000 litres of petrol and diesel in seven illegal-fuel cases during a joint operation in the second half of September 2026. Five cases involved petrol and two involved diesel.
Nine people were arrested: six suspected of operating illegal filling stations, two customers and a cross-border lorry driver. The seizures included more than 16,000 litres of untaxed petrol and 14,000 litres of diesel.
Customs said it seized about 12,000 litres of untaxed petrol from storage sites in Xintian and Tuen Mun, raided on 22 and 28 September. At Xintian, a cross-border lorry was unloading fuel when its 47-year-old driver was arrested.
Customs believes the sites served as transfer points in a suspected supply route: cross-border vehicles brought in untaxed petrol, which mobile vehicles then carried to illegal stations. Officers also broke up three illegal petrol stations in Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong and Kam Tin, seizing more than 4,000 litres of untaxed petrol.
The two diesel cases involved about 2,100 litres of suspected diesel found on a lorry in Kwai Chung and about 12,000 litres seized at an illegal diesel filling station in Tuen Mun. Two operators were arrested.
A senior Fire Services Department officer said fuel containers in the cases did not meet statutory packaging, marking and labelling requirements. Vehicles used as illegal filling stations lacked dedicated fire-safety equipment and ventilation, increasing the risk of fire. A fire or explosion could cause serious casualties or property damage.