Police have taken action aimed at preventing robberies in country parks, Senior Assistant Commissioner Peter Yam says.

Speaking on a radio talk show this morning, Mr Yam said there were 13 robbery cases inside country parks in the first six months. Two illegal immigrants and one Mainland visitor were arrested for their alleged involvement in five of these cases.

He said most country park robbery cases occurred on weekends, adding that Lion Rock, Kam Shan Country Parks and the MacLehose Trail are blackspots.

He said Police have stepped up their patrols in these areas and the Police Tactical Unit will also be deployed to conduct dedicated operations along with dog patrols.

To help officers easily locate robbery victims, police are installing number plates in country parks and hiking trails to help identify locations.

Few Mainland visitors commit crime

Mr Yam said most Mainland visitors are law abiding. Of the 5.6 million visitors in the first half of this year, only 1,106 people, or 0.02%, were found to have been involved in crime.

Only 128 tourists out of the 1.6 million "individual visitors" who came to Hong Kong under the Individual Visitors Scheme were arrested for crime - a very small percentage, he said.

They were mainly involved in minor crimes such as theft or shoplifting, Mr Yam added.