600 of 16,000 smuggled Mark Six lottery tickets seized by Hong Kong customs end up winning HK$70,000 in total
- Prize money ranges from tens of Hong Kong dollars to nearly HK$10,000 for each winning ticket, source says
- Box of 16,000 tickets destined to be sold illegally in Macau and mainland China was found in cargo vessel

About 600 out of 16,000 Mark Six lottery tickets seized by Hong Kong customs in an anti-smuggling operation last week won various prizes amounting to nearly HK$70,000 (US$8,917) in total.
The Post learned that one of the tickets secured the fourth prize worth HK$9,600 in the lottery draw last Thursday, while some won the seventh prize of HK$40 each.
“The winning tickets are now among other evidence such as cash and valuables seized in other cases that are being kept in a high-security storage facility,” a law enforcement source on Wednesday said.

He added customs officers would seek legal advice from the Department of Justice to find out whether the winning tickets were liable to forfeiture and if they could collect the prize money and how it would be handled.
On Monday, a team of customs officers was assigned to manually check more than 16,000 lottery tickets with the assistance of staff members at the Jockey Club, the Mark Six organiser. Nearly 600 tickets in total were found to have won prizes.
Another source said the prize money for each winning ticket ranged from tens of Hong Kong dollars to about HK$10,000. “The total prize money involved is nearly HK$70,000,” he said.
He revealed it was the first time such a large number of lottery tickets had been seized in an anti-smuggling operation and for the tickets to be winners.
Each of the seized tickets contained two Mark Six entries worth HK$20 for last Thursday’s lottery draw. The total betting amount of all the tickets was more than HK$320,000.