Jewels and materials used to make jewelry are seized by customs in Haikou City, South China's Hainan Province, Jan. 12, 2017. Police busted four smuggling rings, detaining 20 suspects and confiscating raw and finished jewels with a market value of 2 billion yuan ($289 million). (Photo: China News Service/Fu Meibin)
Close to 60 tons of gemstones, including amber, charoite and jade, were seized by customs in Haikou, capital of south China's island province of Hainan, local authorities said Thursday.
Total value of the gems seized was nearly two billion yuan (about 289 million U.S. dollars) and 20 suspects have been caught, according to customs.
In December 2014, customs officers found suspicious luggage belonging to a passenger in the Sanya airport. They spent two years uncovering four groups.
After an initial investigation, police found that Zhu, head of the operation, bought 200 tons of gemstones from Russia between December 2013 and February 2016 to sell in China.
"The network is very complicated," said Wang Dingjun, vice head of the anti-smuggling bureau of the Haikou Customs. "The gems, which were declared to be electronic components and clothing with fake invoices, were transported by air, sea and land. They even sent the cargo to Hong Kong first to avoid inspection."
Further investigation is under way.
