Customs staff stand trial for bribery

Eight customs officials are on trial for accepting bribes to allow vehicles to pass through Customs without being checked.

The group at Shenzhen Huanggang Customs in Guangdong province connived together and shared in the spoils, the Futian district people's court heard.

Li Guoqiang, the former director of the department, headed the group.

They were put on trial in Shenzhen on Feb 5, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Huanggang Customs is one of the major checkpoints connecting the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Prosecutors alleged that the group started accepting bribes from logistics companies and letting their vans pass through Customs without being checked from October 2011.

Li said it usually took a long time for logistics companies' vans to pass through Customs.

"We would let them pass if they contacted us and gave us rewards in advance," Li said.

Huang Yanbin, one of the staff members, confessed that he was responsible for staying in touch with four logistics companies. If vans from these companies were selected be checked, the companies would contact Huang and he would tell staff on duty to let the vans pass.

As a reward, the group charged 6,000 yuan ($960) for each van from Guangdong and 10,000 yuan for those outside Guangdong, Huang said.