Source: Dongguan Time Network - iDongguan
Recently, Hu Mouqiang, the last main culprit of the "1.17" ivory smuggling case investigated by the Huangpu Customs Anti-smuggling Bureau, was arrested. At this point, all the suspects in this major smuggling case with a smuggling number of ivory exceeding 20 tons were arrested and arrested.
Hu Mouqiang is one of the main culprits in the case. He is responsible for purchasing ivory in Africa and transporting it to China after hiding it. He has been fleeing since the incident. After careful analysis by Huangpu Customs' anti-smuggling department, the Hu may have been hiding in an African country. With the assistance of the China Central Bureau of Interpol, he issued a red notice and pursued the fugitive through the Interpol channel. In December 2020, Hu Mouqiang was arrested by Ghana's law enforcement agencies when he entered the country. In March this year, with the full assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Civil Aviation Administration of Civil Aviation, the General Administration of Customs quickly sent a working group to Ghana to carry out overseas escort tasks. With the strong assistance of our relevant embassies and consulates abroad, he handled the transfer and acceptance procedures of the suspect Hu Mouqiang with the Ghanaian law enforcement department and escorted him back to China.
Also arrested this year is the first criminal Chen Moucheng in the case. In July 2019, a red notice was issued to Chen Moucheng through the Interpol. The customs anti-smuggling department continues to pursue it. With the active coordination of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the China-Malaysia bilateral police cooperation mechanism, in January this year, Chen Moucheng, who fled to Malaysia, was forced to return to China to surrender.
All suspects who fled abroad in the "1.17" case have been arrested, which also marks a complete victory in the pursuit of the case. The investigation of this large ivory smuggling case that lasted more than seven years has also entered its final stage.
[Link] Case Review
In July 2013, when the former customs officer of Huangpu Customs' office in Shatin inspected the imported hedgehog red sandalwood on the spot, he found that 4.46 tons of ivory original teeth were hidden. The Anti-smuggling Bureau of Huangpu Customs quickly intervened and filed a case to investigate the case, and initially found out that the actual shipment of the batch of goods was Nigeria, Africa. The anti-smuggling department of Huangpu Customs locked the consignee of the three Chen family and sons of the consignee of this batch of timber and quickly found the timber business department they operated, but all the suspects in the relevant criminal have fled abroad.
Faced with criminal suspects fleeing abroad, the customs anti-smuggling personnel persevered, kept a close eye on them, and made every effort to carry out the pursuit of fugitives, but the arrest work was difficult and the tracking of the case was once interrupted.
Transfer appeared in 2018. During this period, Huangpu Customs anti-smuggling personnel found that the houses of these fugitives had been luxuriously decorated and they also purchased luxury houses in the country. Therefore, they judged that they should still have a lot of income during their escape, and suspected that they might continue to engage in smuggling crimes during their abscond. In November 2018, a person suspected of fugitive suspect Chen Mouzong returned to China, and anti-smugglers of Huangpu Customs successfully arrested Chen Mouzong through his whereabouts.
After Chen Mouzong was arrested, the case investigation and handling work has made new breakthroughs. Huangpu Customs anti-smuggling personnel found that the smuggling gang has continued to engage in illegal ivory smuggling since the incident occurred in 2013, and the number of cases involved is astonishing. In January 2019, under the unified command of the General Administration of Customs, the Huangpu Customs Anti-smuggling Bureau established the "1.17" task force.
During the investigation, Huangpu Customs anti-smuggling personnel found that most of Chen Mouzong's activities were in Guangdong and Fujian, but at the same time, they also went to a small county town in Anhui. After visiting, they found that the local industry had no connection with Chen Mouzong, and he had no relatives, friends and other relatives in the local area. After further investigation, it was found that Chen Mouzong often appeared in Anhui County, including a Malaysian businessman named Cai. In addition, through comparison, it was found that Chen Mouzong often stayed at the airport for four or five hours, but there was no record of taking the plane. The number of flights that a merchant named Cai arrived at the airport and left the airport was the same as the time when Chen Mouzong entered and left the airport, and Cai controlled a large amount of funds through some vest accounts.
As the people involved in the case are frequently active, their network of relationships has gradually surfaced. It was confirmed that Chen and his son organized the acquisition of ivory in Nigeria, Cai was responsible for cross-border customs clearance, warehousing, and Lin was responsible for sales. In March 2019, the case reached a critical moment.Customs anti-smugglers discovered that people from Chen's gang asked Cai to come to China. After Cai arrived in Anhui, he took a bus to a small county town, and Lin and three other people also set off from Fujian to this county town. At this time, the customs anti-smuggling personnel had determined the location of the goods and laid a net of heaven and earth.
As the case command issued a closing order, the task force directed more than 100 anti-smuggling personnel to carry out operations in many places, arrested 20 criminal suspects on the spot, and seized 2748 sections of ivory, totaling 7.48 tons. After investigation, the main culprits of the case, Chen Moucheng, Chen Mouzong and his son, have purchased ivory from Africa and Nigeria since 2013, and have smuggled into the country through various methods such as hiding. They have smuggled a total of 20.22 tons of ivory, of which 4,661 original ivory teeth were seized and seized by our customs. In addition, the members of the gang also illegally purchased and sold rhino horns and ivory products in China, and used fake passports to secretly cross the national (border) border, transfer stolen goods, and evade pursuit. The "1.17" super-large ivory smuggling case destroyed an international criminal group that specializes in smuggling ivory. It is the case in which the Chinese customs department independently investigated and seized the largest number of ivory in recent years.
Text: Cao Lijuan Correspondent: Pu Xuan
Photography: Correspondent Pu Xuan
Editor: Zhang Dongchang
This article comes from [Dongguan Time Network-i Dongguan] and only represents the author's views. The National Party Media Information Public Platform provides information release and dissemination services.
