Customs officials of Changsha City in central China's Hunan Province said on Tuesday they have nabbed 15 suspects for allegedly smuggling over 10,000 tons of frozen meat.
An investigation showed the suspects, who belonged to four rings, have been smuggling frozen meat from abroad to Changsha and selling it in places such as Henan Province and Chongqing Municipality since 2015.
In a raid launched by Changsha Customs on Jan. 6, the 15 suspects were caught in the provinces of Hunan and Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The 10,000 tonnes of frozen meat, including chicken feet, pig's feet and beef tongue, were placed in more than 300 containers and worth nearly 100 million yuan (14.4 million U.S. dollars). Most of the frozen meat has entered the market.
Customs officials said smuggled frozen meat can easily go bad during transportation as smugglers mainly use ordinary trucks to save costs. Some buy meat from epidemic areas for low prices.
