The nine Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) armoured Terrex vehicles seized by Hong Kong customs officials two months ago have left the city's port, and begun their week-long journey home.

"Our Terrexes left Hong Kong port this morning at 0415hrs. Next stop, home," Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote on Facebook on Friday (Jan 27) morning.

Hong Kong media reports said there was heavy security as the armoured vehicles were moved out of a customs’ cargo examination compound at about midnight on Friday. Customs officers armed with rifles stood guard and police motorcycles escorted the convoy as it travelled to a container terminal at the port, the South China Morning Post and Oriental Daily reported.

The vehicles will be shipped back by APL, the commercial carrier that was supposed to ship the vehicles to Singapore in November last year from Taiwan, following a military training exercise. But customs officials in Hong Kong seized the shipment on November 23 while it was in transit in the city’s port.

In comments to the media earlier this week, Dr Ng said it would take APL about a week to bring the vehicles back to Singapore, and that they will be shipped back to the Republic directly “without any intermediate stops”.

Hong Kong’s Commissioner of Customs and Excise Roy Tang said officials seized the SAF vehicles because “there was a suspected breach of the Hong Kong law”. But he added that he was not in a position to divulge the parties under scrutiny, nor any charges.

Details would be made public in court, if it came to that, he said. He, however, ruled out targeting Singapore because its government was not found to be involved in any breach of shipping rules.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Today

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