Cross-border food smugglers jailed in S China

NANNING - Twenty-eight smugglers of foodstuff into China from Vietnam were handed prison sentences ranging from a year to 12 years by a Chinese court near the border on Monday.

In the mass sentencing of a number of separate cases, the Intermediate People's Court of Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, gave Zhong Peilian and Wu Wenguo 12 years in prison and a fine of 8 million yuan ($1.25 million) each.

Zhong and Wu smuggled over 10,000 tonnes of rice across the border, evading a tax of 23 million yuan.

Xiang Zaiyi was jailed for seven years and fined half a million yuan. He helped others smuggle 84 million tonnes of frozen foodstuff including chicken feet and beef between Dec. 2013 and June 2014.

With smuggling rife across the China-Vietnam border, the Fangchenggang court has completed trials of 32 similar cases since the start of 2014. Some 9,600 tonnes of frozen meat such as beef, pork, chicken and ducks and nearly 20,000 tonnes of rice, corn and sugar were confiscated in the cases.

In July, China's food safety watchdog ordered nationwide checks for smuggled frozen meat.