HONG KONG, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Illegal Vietnamese immigrants are arriving in Hong Kong in hopes of being arrested and imprisoned, where they get three meals a day plus a minimum wage.
Nguyen Van Hien, 21, was relieved to receive a 21-month sentence in a Hong Kong court Tuesday, after being arrested for crossing a border checkpoint on the underside of a truck, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday. He was found carrying a knife and two bullets.
Hien is the latest in a series of mostly young Vietnamese men arriving in Hong Kong on the "two bullet tour," for which they pay a fee to a gang in their homeland. The package deal includes transport to mainland China, instructions on how to cross into Hong Kong, plus two bullets and a knife.
The weapons are to ensure that the immigrant will get a long prison sentence. For Hien it means free shelter, food and $50 a month in pay while he is incarcerated. He paid about $200 for the package deal.
This was the fourth such case in less than two months. Three men were given sentences of 27 and 28 months last month.