Chinese customs police bust traffickers of rice, other grains

BEIJING - Chinese customs authorities said Thursday they had solved 57 grain trafficking cases in the first ten months of the year, involving rice and other grains worth 1.086 billion yuan ($157.8 million).

The smuggled grain, with rice taking the lion's share, weighed 218,500 tonnes, said the General Administration of Customs.

In August and October this year, customs police in central China's Wuhan City seized 28,700 tonnes of smuggled rice worth 168 million yuan in six cases, detaining 18 suspects.

In October, customs police in the southern city of Nanning seized 1,300 tonnes of smuggled rice, detaining seven suspects.

In November, customs police in southwest China's Kunming detained 19 suspects who had smuggled 32,500 tonnes of rice worth 133 million yuan.

Smuggling of rice and other agricultural produce not only affects China's domestic prices, but also poses threats to food safety as illicit grains escape quality inspection, the authorities said.