Anti-smuggling forces in South China's Guangdong Province have clamped down on 14 percent more smuggling cases in the first quarter of this year than the same period last year. Chen Lin, an official from Guangdong Customs, said the office will never relax the pressure on illegal activities.
A group that usually fights against more than half of the smugglers in the country, Guangdong's anti-smuggling police discovered 559 cases between January and March.
The cases involved a total of 841 million yuan (US$101 million) and tax dodging of 361 million yuan (US$43.5 million), up 20 and 54 percent respectively on the first quarter of the previous year.
Of all the cases, about 34 percent were investigated and proved to be criminal cases, while others were still under investigation.
The 460 suspects found guilty will be sued for smuggling in 751 million yuan (US$90 million) worth of items and dodging 327 million yuan (US$39 million) in tariffs.
"There were several new smuggling trends on the rise in this period," Chen said.
An obvious rise was seen in the amount of smuggled edible oils which, since last October, have been making 800 (US$96) to 1,000 yuan (US$120) in profits per ton for smugglers.
Facing dwindling fish resources, many cash-strapped fishermen have been found smuggling edible oils from Hong Kong to Guangdong.
During the first three months of the year, customs police seized 53,500 tons of edible oils valued at 134 million yuan (US$16 million), a figure 102 times higher than the same period last year.
Most oil smuggling occurred in Shenzhen, Shantou and Guangzhou, cities that enjoy brisk trade.
(China Daily 04/18/2001)
