China cracks down on smuggling

BEIJING -- Chinese customs handled 2,773 cases related to smuggling in the first 10 months, as part of a campaign against smuggling, a spokesman said Thursday.

The "Sword Guarding the Country's Gate 2017" campaign aimed to take tough measures against smuggling, according to Huang Songping, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs

Fifty-six of the cases involved rice smuggling, with a total value of 1.6 billion yuan ($242 million), Huang said.

Customs also dealt with 233 criminal smuggling cases involving arms and ammunition, 474 involving drugs, and 86 related to endangered species.

Huang said that customs would coordinate with other agencies to raise anti-smuggling efficiency in the future.