Chinese customs officers seized about 5.5 million smuggled compact disks after searching two vessels off the south China coast last Saturday.
Sources from the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of the Shenzhen Customs house said on the early morning of July 12, two small vessels appeared on the customhouse's radar screen. The two boats had left the territorial waters of Hong Kong and were spotted on the high seas heading for offshore areas near Shenzhen. The officers found it strange and suspicious for two small boats to be navigating in adverse conditions with high winds and waves.
An anti-smuggling speedboat was ordered to pursue and detain the two small wooden vessels. As the speedboat approached, the two unidentified vessels attempted to flee into the territorial waters of Hong Kong, but were unable.
The cargo confiscated includes 19,800 DVDs, 5.379 million VCDs and 100,000 blank CDs.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anti-smuggling officers with the Shenzhen Customs house have interrupted 21 smuggling operations since the beginning of the year and confiscated 28.6 million compact disks, indicating a strong increase compared to the same period last year.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2003)
