4 arrested in crackdown on mainland Chinese firms offering illegal labour in Hong Kong

Hong Kong authorities have arrested two men and two women in an undercover operation for allegedly working in the city illegally as cleaners and renovation workers, after mainland Chinese firms advertised the services online ahead of Lunar New Year.

Immigration Department Task Force Deputy Commander Chan Yan-kit said on Friday that the operation was conducted between January 22 and 29, with officers posing as customers to lure suspects into the city before arresting them.

They were located after police found advertisements by the mainland companies on Chinese social media platform RedNote.

Chan said the four suspects, aged between 32 and 58, were two women offering cleaning services and two men who were renovation workers.

A department spokesman told the South China Morning Post that the two cleaners received a sentence of 54 days’ imprisonment, while authorities had laid a charge against the two renovation workers.

“Investigations showed that these cleaners, capitalising on increased demand for such services at home ahead of Lunar New Year, advertised on social media platforms their availability to provide them in Hong Kong,” Chan said.