Six get death in China’s biggest smuggling bust

Beijing, May 12: Chinese courts today sentenced to death six people, including the customs chief of a southern city and three Hong Kong residents, for their roles in China’s biggest smuggling bust in five decades.

The official Xinhua news agency said five courts in Guangdong province convicted 25 others, on charges ranging from smuggling to accepting bribes, as part of a government crackdown on smuggling and corruption.

They were convicted of smuggling more than 3,600 car bodies, 248 whole cars, 190,000 tonnes of steel products, 40,000 tonnes of diesel and 10,000 tonnes of raw sugar between 1996 and 1998, Xinhua said.

They evaded 400 million yuan ($ 48.3 mn) in taxes, making it China’s biggest smuggling scandal since the Communists came to power in 1949, Xinhua said. They have 10 days to appeal against their sentences.