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  Computer components were packed into boxes and hidden inside this metal coffin.

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  Customs officials became suspicious when they saw the odd position of the coffin, which had been lashed vertically to the side of the vehicle instead of just left lying vertically on the floor.

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  Customs officials display some of the hollow cement slabs used to smuggle cigarettes. The cigarettes were packed into the hollow space, which was then covered up with a board and sealed with more cement.

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HONG KONG: Smugglers have been cracking their heads to come up with new ways to slip their goods past Hong Kong customs. So far, their new tricks have failed to impress.

Customs officials at one of the busiest ports in the world have recently managed to uncover three smuggling operations with a "different" approach to their business.

One employed domestic tour groups to smuggle cigarettes. Another shipped in hollow cement slabs with cigarettes stashed inside. The third involved packing computer parts into a steel coffin. All three shipments were seized.

To be fair, the group trying to smuggle cigarettes inside concrete slabs actually managed to deliver the goods to their destination. However, customs officials received a tip and staked out the area where the slabs were kept. The game was up when they saw men breaking apart the slabs to get at the cigarettes.

Similarly, the coffin caper might have been successful if the delivery driver had not lost his nerve.

Smugglers were utilising psychological warfare, hoping that social taboos would keep customs officials from searching a vehicle that was supposedly carrying a corpse too closely. In addition, the vehicle that was delivering the shipment belonged to a company that specialised in the international transfer of human remains, so everything seemed above board.

Unfortunately for them, the driver's nervous behaviour and expression alerted officials that something fishy was going on. Further investigation only made them more suspicious.

An X-ray of the vehicle, conducted using a mobile scanning unit, showed that the coffin was in an odd position. Instead of lying horizontally on the floor, it had been lashed to the side of the vehicle in a vertical position.

Officials proceeded to search the vehicle and uncovered the hidden stash of computer parts inside the coffin. They arrested the driver, who admitted that he had been paid by a third party to help smuggle the parts into Hong Kong. According to import regulations, smugglers can be fined up to 2 million yuan (around RM950,000), and imprisoned for up to 7 years.