The 12 Hong Kong fugitives arrested by Guangdong coast guards late last month while trying to flee to Taiwan paid as much as HK$1 million each for the unsuccessful escape, according to a smuggler.
The cost of human smuggling from the SAR to Taiwan by sea had surged from HK$100,000 to nearly HK$1 million per head, Ah Sai told Eastweek magazine, The Standard's sister publication.
"I knew from last year that many youngsters who joined the anti-fugitive bill movement had escaped to Taiwan by sea. The price was HK$100,000 back then," Ah Sai said.
He said the cost later tripled as there were fewer vessels at sea during the fishing moratorium between May and mid August, with the pandemic making things worse.
"To be honest, the price is not fixed," Ah Sai said. "It depends on who the middleman [between smugglers and stowaways] is and how risky the trip is."
He used Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who allegedly breached the national security law, as an example, saying: "He would be charged at least HK$10 million."