Provinces, cities take aim at illegal sand mining along Yangtze River

Police in 10 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River have cracked down on 90 groups involved in illegal sand mining during the past nine months, the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday.

They have uncovered 1,667 criminal cases related to illegal mining and seized over 1.79 billion yuan ($251 million) related to sand mining, 305 sand mining vessels and 2.88 million cubic meters of sand.

On Jan 11, the ministry launched a one-year campaign cracking down on illegal sand mining and deployed public security forces in the cities of Shanghai and Chongqing, as well as Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.