Hong Kong  - A huge consignment of exotic fresh seafood worth more than 360,000 US dollars has been seized in Hong Kong, customs officers said Sunday.

Around 460 boxes of live lobsters, chilled salmon, clams and other seafood delicacies were confiscated from smugglers who were about to take them to China from Hong Kong by speedboat.

The seizure on Saturday came in a customs operation to smash a smuggling syndicate that was flying seafood legally into Hong Kong from overseas, then avoiding import duty by smuggling it to China.

Eleven men were arrested and five speedboats impounded as seafood including Australian lobsters and clams and Norwegian salmon destined for the booming seafood restaurant business in China was seized.

A customs spokesman said the arrested men would have avoided paying more than 90,000 US dollars in import duty if the smuggling operation had succeeded.

The confiscated seafood would be stored to use in evidence when the case comes to court and then destroyed, in line with usual customs practice, the spokesman said. (dpa)