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Hong Kong police arrest 308 mainland Chinese in vice raids
Hong Kong police arrested 414 people, including 308 from mainland China for alleged offenses including prostitution, pornography and drug trafficking, in raids that ended early Thursday. The crackdown comes amid heightened security concerns as China eases restrictions on travel to the territory. Apart from mainlanders, the rest were Hong Kong residents and eight illegal immigrants, police spokesman T.K. Ng said. The nationality of the illegal immigrants was not clear, he said. The alleged offenses also involved possession of obscene and pirated VCDs and illegal gambling, according to a government statement. Police seized 2.5 Hong Kong million dollars (US$320 million) worth pirated and pornographic VCDs and a small quantity of drugs, the statement said. Although Hong Kong is part of China, tight border controls remain in place since Britain returned this former colony to Beijing six years ago. Mainlanders still need visas to visit Hong Kong. But residents of the neighboring Chinese province of Guangdong have recently been permitted to visit Hong Kong individually instead of joining tour groups in an attempt to boost the territory's flagging economy. Police commissioner Tsang Yam-pui said relaxing travel restrictions could pose a security risk. He told reporters the individual travel plan ``may have a certain degree of negative impact.'' ``We hope to the keep the negative impact to a minimum."
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