A local court hearing on a big smuggling case was held last week in Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province, according to local attorney.
Zhoushan is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Ningbo City in Zhejiang.
According to the local prosecutors, a smuggling gang evaded millions dollars of tariffs and duties by bribing a number of senior officials in charge of customs, frontier defense and coastal police of Zhoushan and Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang.
Dong Xinshu, president and general manager of the Zhoushan Wanshun Preservation and Transportation Co., was head of the smuggling group. Dong and his company bribed senior customs and coastal police officers with Renminbi, US dollars and valuables worth 2.4 million yuan (US$289,000) in total.
From May to September in 1999, the gang smuggled in 86,000 cases of 555 brand cigarettes for sale in parts of east China, dodging 640 million yuan (US$77 million) of tariffs.
From June to August in 1999, Dong's Company, in collaboration with another local company, smuggled in 33,000 tons of diesel oil, evading duties of 20.6 million yuan (US$2.5 million).
(Xinhua 01/03/2001)
