A Spanish woman accused of trying to evade 150,000 yuan (US$24,200) in tax and duties by smuggling luxury watches into the country on Thursday became the first person to be tried at the new Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court.
The 39-year-old, whose name was not released, was taken into custody on September 18 after trying to pass through the green channel at Pudong Airport.
A check of her bags, however, revealed she had 13 "luxury" watches and a Vertu phone, the tax on which amounted to about 150,000 yuan, prosecutors said.
The new court heard two other smuggling-related cases yesterday.
In one, a 41-year-old man from Tianjin was accused of trying to smuggle 11 pieces of rhinoceros horn and three pieces of ivory into China via Pudong airport in October.
The items were worth 2.15 million yuan.
In the other, a mother and daughter stood trial for trying to smuggle ivory products worth 460,000 yuan into China via Pudong airport.
The court did not rule on any of the three cases.
