China arrests 43 suspects in billion-yuan oil smuggling case

BEIJING - Chinese authorities have arrested 43 suspects in a major refined oil smuggling case worth of 1.27 billion yuan ($189.55 million), the General Administration of Customs said Sunday.

The suspects were nabbed in coordinated operations on April 20 by customs, coast guard and police officers in Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Dalian, during which a foreign oil tanker and four smaller transfering ships, one oil depot and 16 oil tanks containing 29,500 tonnes of smuggled refined oil were seized.

Preliminary investigation showed that the suspects have trafficked around 170,000 tonnes of refined oil since 2018.

Since March, customs authorities nationwide have initiated investigations into 184 cases of refined oil trafficking valued at 6.62 billion yuan.

"The rampant activities of refined oil smuggling have been effectively contained," said a customs official.