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Diesel smuggling ring busted in China, 21 caught

Xinhua, January 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Twenty-one suspects have been nabbed for smuggling around 23,000 tonnes of diesel oil to China from overseas by sea, Shanghai customs said Tuesday.

An investigation showed that the smugglers transported oil from foreign ships on the open sea to waters in the Yangtze estuary in Shanghai, and then smuggled the diesel oil to the city and neighboring regions for profit starting in January last year. The illegal activities were often conducted at night.

The case involves around 100 million yuan (16 million U.S. dollars), according to customs.

Customs officers and police caught all suspects and seized more than 660 tonnes of diesel oil and two smuggling ships in a raid in mid-December.

"Smuggled diesel oil may be of poor quality and pose risks to transportation and production if used in vehicles and boilers," said a customs officer.

Ten suspects were officially arrested on Tuesday. Further investigation is under way. Endi