The cable was suspended from a high-rise building in the Chinese border town of Shenzhen, and goods were moved 300 metres (980 feet) to the top of a small village house in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reported.
"There were many ways of smuggling in the past, such as by underground drains," said Leo Sin, head of Hong Kong's customs' intelligence co-ordination group, according to the report.
"But this is the first time we have found wire being used for smuggling."
The goods were transported over a small river that separates the booming city of Shenzhen from the rural northern part of Hong Kong using an elaborate pulley system, the report said.
The cable was shot across the border using a crossbow and the goods were ferried across at night in black plastic bags, the report said.
Four suspects from Hong Kong and 12 from Shenzhen were arrested in the operation and electronic goods, including mobile phones and computer accessories, worth more than 6 million Hong Kong dollars (0.8 million US) were seized.
The syndicate had been operating for two or three weeks, the report added.
Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland run independent legal and taxation systems, and smugglers often try to get goods into the former British colony to make a profit on the lower prices on offer in the mainland.
