Hong Kong marine police and customs have seized about HK$13 million (US$1.6 million) worth of illicit cigarettes in two anti-smuggling operations that saw the culprits escape in speedboats.

Police said on Sunday that their Marine Regional Task Force joined up with officers from the marine enforcement division of the Customs and Excise Department to conduct the operations in the waters off Stanley and the New Territories.

In the first case, officers discovered two speedboats without navigation lights approaching the pier near Tai Tam Bay in Stanley. At the same time, several men were seen moving goods between the speedboats and a truck on the shore, police said.

When the officers took action, the suspects immediately jumped into the speedboats and headed into Hong Kong’s southern waters.

Marine police attempted to mount a pursuit. But the force said the speedboat fled in the direction of mainland Chinese waters and disappeared “without a trace”.

In the second operation, officers found another pair of speedboats driving at high speed without navigation lights near Double Island in the northeast of the New Territories.