Bird nest smuggling ring busted in Shenzhen

Daily Sunshine
January 9, 2008

Customs officers in Shenzhen have recently busted a bird nest smuggle ring. The smuggled goods involved in the case are valued at over 700 million yuan, according to today’s Daily Sunshine, a Shenzhen newspaper.

The smuggling gang adopted a method called “ant smuggling”: Under the instructions of a Hong Kong resident called Mo Moucui, over 200 people were hired to carry bird’s nests and other expensive traditional Chinese medical ingredients from Hong Kong to Mainland China every day. Each of them would carry small portion of the cargo. The individual smugglers would coordinate with each other using cell phones.

The Shenzhen Customs authority has established that since March 2007, the gang has smuggled in over 28 tons of bird nests.

The police also arrested a bird nest dealer in Guangzhou who had been doing business with the smugglers.

Also:

● The construction of a bridge which will connect Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau is going to be started this year.

● After reports on the “HD counterfeit banknotes” in various areas of China, the Daily Sunshine confirms that such notes have also been found in Shenzhen. China’s central bank has denied the rumors that such fake money cannot be detected by standard detectors.