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Busy 'ants' catch eye of mainland customs

They shop heavily for diamond rings, iPads, the latest Nokia mobile phone models, Chanel perfume and Meiji baby formula from Japan and look no different from other mainlanders. But they're on a mainland customs blacklist, with officers automatically alerted when they cross the border to Shenzhen.

More than 1,000 professional smugglers have been seized by Shenzhen and Zhuhai customs in a massive month-long crackdown on the smuggling of tax-free electronic and luxury products from Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland.

The criminals, known as ant smuggling gangs because of their resemblance to a column of ants moving back and forth, have seen their business increase now that inflation on the mainland is running at a two-year high.

Steep duties of up to 50 per cent announced by the General Administration of Customs on merchandise worth more than 5,000 yuan (HK$5,830) brought into the mainland are another reason.

The ant smuggling gangs, which split goods into smaller lots that are then carried into the mainland by individuals in order to evade taxes of 20 per cent or more, have become so popular that Shenzhen customs officers seized 142 mobile phones from nursemaids of cross-border students in 14 cases before the crackdown began last month.

It was not only the nursemaids, a Shenzhen customs spokesman told the South China Morning Post. 'Ant smuggling gangs also hire disabled or elderly people, pregnant women and youngsters to ship goods, making it difficult for customs to detect smugglers,' he said.

The General Administration of Customs says goods worth nearly 50 million yuan - on which 5 million yuan in tax was payable - were seized from the 1,000 smugglers at the Shenzhen and Zhuhai checkpoints last month. The haul included red wine, cigarettes, electronic products and milk powder.

Officials say more than 8,000 ant smugglers travel frequently across the borders between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau, some making dozens of trips a day.

Smugglers can earn 50 yuan to 300 yuan a trip. They make an average of 5,000 yuan a month by taking goods from Sheung Shui to Lo Wu and passing them on to gang members waiting outside checkpoints. The smuggling gangs then distribute the goods to shops or customers through their own sales networks.

The goods are also sold by online shops on the mainland that feature cheap but good-quality Hong Kong products.

Hundreds of ant smugglers seized at Shenzhen's Luohu checkpoint complained to the Post that all their goods had been confiscated by customs officers and they had been told that they could only get them back the next time they left Shenzhen for Hong Kong.

'The crackdown came so suddenly that both my mother and I were caught at the border,' a woman smuggler who refused to give her name said.

'We were told to hand over all our goods and officers registered our names and travel documents on a blacklist.

'My parents and I used to travel to Hong Kong every day to ship tax-free items to Shenzhen, but have now been forced to cut such trips to twice a week.'

Once a mainlander is listed as an ant smuggler on the customs blacklist, the computer system will issue a warning automatically when immigration officers check their travel documents electronically. The individuals will then be subjected to strict customs checks.

Shenzhen customs officers seized 160 diamonds valued at 20 million yuan from one traveller last month, while another ant smuggler was found with 268 circuit boards for mobile phones worth 20,000 yuan.

Dozens of ant smugglers were also detained by police while making deals outside the Luohu checkpoint last month, with mobile phones, red wine, cameras and milk powder valued at about 300,000 yuan being seized.

From August, travellers returning to the mainland have had to pay a 50 per cent tax on cosmetics (up from 10 per cent), alcohol and tobacco, with a tax of 20 per cent applied to laptop computers, mobile phones and cameras. Tax on watches valued at more than 10,000 yuan has increased from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

While new visa rules in Hong Kong and Macau are allowing millions of migrant workers in Shenzhen to travel to the special administrative regions more easily, mainland customs are worried that more ant smugglers will take advantage of the policies.

Shopping list

What gang members earn

Meiji milk formula - 10 to 15 yuan a can, 100 yuan a box

iPhone or iPad - 300 to 400 yuan each

Cosmetics or perfume of luxury brands - 30 to 50 yuan an item

Luxury brand handbags - negotiable and service only provides to frequent customers

Red wine - 20 to 30 yuan a bottle

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