Thursday, June 25, 2015

China cracking down on meat smugglers

Chinese authorities have found some frozen meat that’s 40 years old as they crack down on smugglers.

So far they have arrested members of 21 gangs and have seized more than 100,000 tonnes of smuggled meat, including chicken wings, beef and pork, state news agency Xinhua said. In one raid in southern Hunan province, police arrested 20 people.

Customs officials found some of the meat was more than 40 years old, meaning it dated back to the 1970s. Other parts were rotten and decomposing, the China Daily newspaper said.

The newspaper hasn’t said what happened to the meat.

Industry sources say hundreds of thousands of tonnes of beef is being smuggled into China via neighbouring Hong Kong and Vietnam, from countries such as Brazil and India, to sidestep Beijing's import curbs.


Hong Kong has been a big customer of Canadian beef and pork for many years, long before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control.