Customs crackdown on seven smuggling rings

Gongbei Customs in Guangdong and Nanning Customs in Guangxi have jointly busted seven endangered animal smuggling rings.

The rings were trafficking animals and animal products such as ivory, tiger skin, rhino horns, lion bones and bear paws, according to customs.

A total of 40 people have been detained in the case, which involves more than 308 pieces of smuggled items worth over 80 million yuan ($11.24 million), putting 22 people under criminal compulsory measures, 10 of whom are from Vietnam.

The investigation originated from an ivory smuggling case taken early this year, Gongbei Customs from Zhuhai city, Guangdong province announced on Wednesday .

Rings led by Vietnamese smugglers were found active along the border of China and Vietnam.

Starting 2016, they collected endangered animals and related products in Vietnam to fill orders from China, smuggled them through Dongxing in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and delivered the goods to customers in China by courier, according to customs.

More than 200 customs and police officers on Aug 13 began the crackdown operation in Guangxi, Beijing and the provinces of Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei and Guangdong.