Two major silver smuggling cases involving 1.639 billion yuan
(US$220 millions) were busted in Shenzhen, a city bordering Hong
Kong in south China's Guangdong Province, customs officials
announced on Wednesday.
Two gangs of smugglers concealed silver bullion in secret
compartments in container trucks which shuttled daily between
Shenzhen and Hong Kong and smuggled nearly 456 tons of silver since
February this year, according to customs officials.
After entering the mainland, the silver was transported to the
provincial capital Guangzhou or elsewhere but was never used in
production, the police said.
Anti-smuggling police investigated the smuggling dens in
Guangzhou and Shenzhen on June 20 and 26, seizing a total of 3.43
tons of silver.
The cases are said to be the largest silver smuggling cases
busted since 1949, according to Shenzhen Customs. Currently, 15
members of the gang have been arrested, six of whom are from Hong
Kong,
According to Song Min, deputy director of Shenzhen customs
anti-smuggling bureau, most of the silver seized was from the
Chinese mainland. Smugglers took the silver to Hong Kong to cheat
state tax rebates.
China's silver export enterprises could get 13 percent tax
rebates before July 1, 2007. The smugglers bought silver in Hong
Kong and resold it to mainland export companies so as to once again
earn rebates.
(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2007)