A total of 28 goods traffickers, accused of smuggling raw materials and finished products between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta, appeared in court yesterday in Guangzhou.

The 28 traffickers were arrested by Guangzhou-based Huangpu Customs in April last year for evading customs duties.

Sources with the customs authorities said the smuggling case involves goods worth a total of 1.8 billion yuan (US$217.6 million), the biggest amount for such a case in the country's history.

The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court began a three-day trial yesterday.

All suspects are charged with illegally smuggling a large amount of raw materials, including leather, cloth and paper, from Hong Kong to Dongguan, a city in Guangdong, from January 2000 to April 2004.

These raw materials were then turned into finished products and returned to Hong Kong for sale, or exported. Other goods were sold in Guangdong.

"Although the final ruling has not been made, the principal defendants could face serious punishment if they are found guilty," said Li Zhongyuan, an official with the court.

However, Yin Zhaohua, one of the principal suspects, denied all the charges against him in court yesterday.

In 1996, Yin, a native of Guangdong Province, established a transport company in Hong Kong, which became the centre for the smuggling operation in the special administrative region, it is claimed.

In 2000, he also established four processing companies and a goods freight centre in Dongguan.

Customs officials found that the goods yard had become a distribution centre for the smuggling operation on the Chinese mainland.

It is claimed that Yin hired a total of 42 people, all relatives, to take part in the operation, which extended to other Guangdong cities, such as Zhongshan, Shenzhen and Shunde.

Customs officials began investigating Yin and his associates in September 2003 when they found a large amount of smuggled cloth was being sold at a Guangzhou leather market.

Source: China Daily