China smashes drinks smuggling case worth 74 mln USD

Tianjin Customs in north China announced on Wednesday that it has smashed a smuggling case involving some 5 million liters of wine, beers and mineral water.

Tianjin Customs smashes a smuggling case involving some 5 million liters of wine, beers and mineral water. [Photo: Weibo account]

It was estimated that the drinks involved were worth nearly 500 million yuan(about 74 million U.S. dollars). Tianjin Customs found that a Beijing company's prices were much lower than the market average at the end of 2016. After two months' investigation, five suspects were caught and key evidence seized. The suspects have allegedly been smuggling drinks through fake contracts and invoices and quoting low prices.

It was found that the suspects registered several companies in Beijing and Tianjin. The products smuggled were imported from a dozen countries including the United States, Mexico, Britain, France and Russia.

More than 720,000 bottles of drinks worth about 60 million yuan were seized by Tianjin customs officers.

The case is under further investigation.