Shenzhen Customs have smashed a diesel oil smuggling operation, seizing more than 10,000 liters of illegal diesel.
Ten suspects, including some from Hong Kong, were detained in the operation, according to customs.
Officials said they received a tip off that there was an illegal diesel oil trade business being run out of a dilapidated parking lot in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district and another two places nearby.
After careful investigation and preparation, customs carried out raids at 10 am Tuesday at the three sites.
According to an anti-smuggling official from customs, who declined to be named because of his work, one of the suspects who was responsible for transmitting information at the gate of the parking lot ran out, trying to escape, but was eventually caught.
“The illegal activity not only causes unfairness to oil enterprises, but also disrupts market order of the industry. More importantly, it could cause safety and environmental protection problems to the city and its citizens,”the official said.
The suspects include Hong Kong truck drivers, illegal diesel oil dealers and sellers, and others involved in the smuggling chain.
The drivers filled up the trucks with diesel oil in Hong Kong, drove them across the border to the sites where they unloaded the diesel oil and sold them to dealers at a high price.
The dealers would then resell the smuggled oil to construction sites, gas stations and vehicle owners with at an even higher price.
One of the Hong Kong truck drivers who was detained in the operation said he brought diesel oil in Hong Kong at 3 yuan ($0.43) a liter and sold it on the mainland for 3.6 yuan a liter.
By doing this, he could make over 1000 yuan a day, he said.
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