Taking part in the operation were officers from Police Command Launch PL51, Police Vessel 105, Divisional Fast Patrol Craft (DFPC) PV8 and Damen Cougartek High Speed Pursuit Craft PL85 of MNDIV. They were ambushing at the strategic locations at Mirs Bay and along the coast of Sai Kung.

At midnight, the radar of the Regional Command and Control Centre Marine detected a suspicious vessel in the vicinity of Shek Ngau Chau, Mirs Bay. After Command Launch PL51 had confirmed the grid location, Damen Cougartek PL85 and DFPC PV8 were despatched there to investigate. They later confirmed that the suspicious vessel was a speedboat.

Officers signalled the speedboat to stop, but it ignored the request and sped away in a dangerous circuitous route, fleeing to the jagged rocky shore area of Tai Long, Cheung Tsui and Tuen Tsui. Despite adverse conditions at sea, officers continued their pursuit, eventually forcing the speedboat to go aground at the rugged rocky shore of Tuen Tsui near Wo Sheung Chau. Two Mainland "snakeheads" and six South Asian IIs fled from the speedboat and landed on an uninhabited island.

Meanwhile with strong northeast monsoon wind blowing and waves reaching three metres high, the engine of the rescue vessel PV105 broke down in darkness and went aground on jagged cliff, but officers on board managed to go ashore and started searching for the escapees.

On daybreak, Marine rescue teams, which were staying at the scene all the time, then re-arranged their rescue plan. At noon, their efforts finally resulted in the successful rescue of the trapped officers and the six South Asian IIs.

With the support of a Government Flying Service helicopter, the two arrested "snakeheads" were taken to MNDIV, where they were charged with "endangering others at sea" and "aiding and abetting illegal immigrants".

Marine Regional Commander Chang Mo-see has commended the officers for their courageous performances in the operation, as well as for the arrest of the "snakeheads" and IIs.

Twenty-eight students from the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong recently visited MNDIV and learned more about the work of Marine Police.

They were also updated on the recent upsurge in the arrest of non-ethnic Chinese IIs from South Asia, and on Marine Region's strategies to deal with this issue.

At the end of the visit, the students said they got a better idea of Marine Police officers' day-to-day operations, and found the officers' performances in maintaining law and order in Hong Kong waters impressive.

Officers have been commended for a job well done