Zhanjiang cracks down on smuggling

A total of 208 smuggling cases were handled by Zhanjiang Customs in 2017, seizing 510 million yuan ($80.7 million) worth of contraband goods which evaded around 120 million yuan worth of taxes.

This step up in anti-smuggling is due to the national "Sword Guarding the Country's Gate 2017" campaign that was initiated by the General Administration of Customs last year.

The most noticeable case was a transnational vehicle smuggling case in which Zhanjiang authorities successfully arrested 51 criminal suspects who were accountable for the smuggling of 1,580 cars and 46 containers of auto parts. On aggregate, these cars and parts were valued at 1.2 billion yuan, making it the largest case of its kind since 1949.

Officials are counting contraband. [Photo/Legal Daily]

In the meantime, local officials have also confiscated about 13 tons of pangolin scales and 3.2 tons of tusks in collaboration with the Malaysian authorities over the previous year. Zhanjiang's achievements in constructing an anti-smuggling comprehensive management demonstration village also gained accreditation from the central government.

To push forward modernized anti-smuggling methods, Zhanjiang has given full support to the establishment of an anti-cigarette-smuggling information center operated by the General Administration of Customs and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.

Moreover, Zhanjiang Customs have also stepped up its effort to implement stereoscopic supervision and real-time disposition for commodities, vehicles and their destinations. In 2017, up to 92.17 million tons of goods were covered by the monitoring network, an increase of 12.5 percent from the previous year.

Cigarettes seized by Zhanjiang customs authorities. [Photo/Legal Daily]