The Hongcouver | Top Canadian winemaker John Chang of Lulu Island Winery is arrested for smuggling in China, state media suggests
Winery says Chang is helping Chinese authorities with their investigation, and is confident there was no wrongdoing
John Chang, one of British Columbia’s immigrant success stories thanks to his Lulu Island Winery in Richmond, is believed to have been arrested in China on suspicion of smuggling tens of millions of dollars’ worth of ice wine, state media reports suggest.
A report in the state-owned Legal Daily , which covers judicial matters and operates under China’s Ministry of Justice, said on Wednesday that a Canadian winery owner named “Zhang” had been arrested for smuggling wine worth 300 million yuan (US$45 million) into China, including 200 million yuan worth of ice wine.
Neither the winery nor its owner are fully identified by name in the report, which cited an announcement by Shanghai Customs officials in the wake of a series of raids.
However, photographs of the raids show officers inspecting crates of wine carrying the Lulu Island Winery name and logo.
