Seized equipment auctioned off

Guangdong customs raised 2.62 million yuan ($415,000) for the national treasury after it auctioned off smuggled video and photographic equipment on Aug 15 in the Zhuhai special economic zone, which borders the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Zhuhai's Gongbei customs officers seized 1,209 pieces of video and photographic equipment valued at 400 million yuan when they busted a major smuggling gang on Feb 22, destroying a major smuggling channel in the region.

It was the largest video and photographic equipment smuggling case cracked on the Chinese mainland.

An investigation found the gang smuggled 75,683 different kinds of video and photographic equipment into the mainland from abroad between January 2011 and February 2012.

Customs officers said the crackdown has dealt a heavy blow to local video and photographic equipment smuggling.

More seized equipment will also be auctioned off in the near future.