Police arrest 8 people over beef smuggling
Print Edition
EIGHT members of an alleged criminal gang have been arrested for smuggling almost 100 tons of Japanese beef into Shanghai over a period of several years, local police said yesterday.
The individuals — seven Chinese and one Japanese — were caught in separate raids in Shanghai and Yunnan, authorities reported.
The alleged ringleader, a Japanese man surnamed Yamauchi, is still wanted for questioning, police said, adding that they believe him to be living in Japan.
Law enforcement teams have been tracking the gang since late last year.
On March 25, police raided several warehouses in the Pudong New Area and Songjiang District, which netted about 13 tons of illegal beef with an estimated street value of about 30 million yuan (US$4.8 million), police said.
Based on documents uncovered during their investigations, police said they believe the gang had been operating for several years and had smuggled at least 97 tons of illegal beef into Shanghai.
In 2001, Chinese authorities issued a blanket ban on all Japanese beef due to an outbreak of mad cow disease in the country. The ruling did not deter the smugglers, however, and since the start of their latest investigation police have inspected and punished several high-end Japanese restaurants for selling the outlawed cuts.
Police said they began working with the anti-smuggling team at Shanghai Customs after receiving intelligence that several local eateries were selling what they claimed to be wagyu beef.
The gang is alleged to have shipped the meat from Japan to Cambodia, before transporting it through Thailand and Laos, and then crossing the border into southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
The illegal cargo was hidden in containers of fruit and later flown to Shanghai disguised as ham, police said.
The meat was purchased by distribution company Shanghai Zhuodian Co, which in turn sold it on to various restaurants, including Xiangjia and Fengjing, they said.
The wholesale price of wagyu beef in Japan is between 100 and 200 yuan per kilogram, while Shanghai restaurants charge consumers between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan per kilogram, police said.
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