HONG KONG- The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department has launched an investigation after surgical masks suspected of being falsely declared as made in Japan were supplied to the Government Logistics Department (GLD). 

The 32 million masks involved in the case are being kept in the GLD's  stock and have not been allocated to any government departments for use, according to the GLD

According to a government statement issued on Wednesday evening, a supplier involved in the case and the director of a logistics company were arrested for contravening the Trade Descriptions Ordinance. 

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The 32 million masks involved in the case are being kept in the GLD's stock and have not been allocated to any government departments for use, according to the GLD. 

The GLD earlier procured the surgical masks from a local supplier, who claimed that the masks came from Japan. The information of a Japanese manufacturer was provided on the packaging and the place of origin shown was Japan.

However, the GLD later suspected that not all of the masks were from Japan and it lodged a complaint with Customs on August 31, according to the government statement.

Customs immediately launched an investigation and discovered that the surgical masks were supplied to the GLD by a local trading company through a logistics company, it added.

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According to the statement, a preliminary investigation revealed that most of the surgical masks were not manufactured in Japan, which was different from what had been declared.

Customs officers then mounted an operation on Tuesday and searched two offices of the trading company involved in Cheung Sha Wan and Kwai Chung. A 39-year-old male director of the trading company was arrested, it added. 

The investigation revealed that the trading company jointly occupied the office in Kwai Chung with a logistics company. Customs officers also arrested on Tuesday a 47-year-old female director of the logistics company at that office, according to the statement.

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They were later released on bail pending further investigation. Samples of the confiscated masks were sent to a laboratory for tests on their bacterial count, it added.