On August 11, the Shenzhen branch of the Guangdong Border Patrol Police announced that they’d intercepted a large-scale smuggling attempt back in June of this year. A ship manned by six people was carrying a total of 549 tons of used clothes, canvas and other forbidden goods to a mainland dropoff point. Altogether, the goods were worth about RMB11 million.
Among the many things smugglers have tried to get across the Chinese border in the past, secondhand clothes might seem unexciting. But once you find out where many of those clothes came from – the dumps, hospital morgues and waste treatment plants of foreign countries – the shipment is shown in a whole new light.
The account of how the smugglers’ ship was captured is a pretty thrilling story itself. On June 8, after careful investigation, the Shenzhen border patrol police deployed a detachment of police and soldiers to intercept a ship suspected of carrying “foreign garbage” from Hong Kong to the mainland.
The whole boatload of goods onboard
The detachment set out from Dapeng during a level-8 typhoon, with head of the Kwai Chong (Kuichong in Mandarin) Border Patrol Station Liu Xinlin in charge.
About an hour into the journey, they encountered a thunderstorm. Under the low-visibility conditions, it took them another half-hour to locate the ship they were searching for.
“The vessel in front, please note we are Security Frontier Troop police, please immediately stop the boat for inspection!”
Despite the patrol’s politely phrased order, the smugglers’ vessel didn’t slow down and instead continued on towards its destination. After another ineffective warning, the patrol had to resort to other tactics.
They drew alongside the smugglers’ ship, but its deck was much higher than the police vessel, making it almost unreachable.
Then leader Liu Xinlin saw his chance: a cable was hanging down from one side of the other ship. After testing it and finding it secure, he proceeded to climb up, being careful to time his movements so as not to get crushed between the ships as they were rocked by violent waves.
After gaining access to the ship, the members of the brigade quickly took over the pilothouse and stopped the boat.
Police inspected the clothes, which were said to be smelly
Despite their efforts, though, many professional secondhand clothes traffickers continue to operate through a wide network of hidden routes and dropoff points, creating no end of trouble for police.
It’s a profitable business, and a potentially harmful one. Many of the used clothes originate from germ and toxin-ridden places like dumps and hospital morgues and may not be disinfected before being resold.
They pose the risk of transmitting skin diseases or other ailments, especially to vulnerable populations like children and the elderly. There’s even the possibility of spreading epidemics.
But smugglers are still drawn in by the allure of wide profit margins. One person on the boat captured by police admitted that traffickers could sometimes buy clothes for as low as two or three yuan apiece, since they were unwanted goods in other countries.
Although some clothes might be resold cheaply, not all of the secondhand clothes being trafficked are low-quality. Some might be from name brands; sold as new, they can earn smugglers and resellers quite a bit of cash.
The clothes come in all shapes, sizes, and brands
Clothes smuggling is the kind of phenomenon that’s almost unbelievable until you see the proof: hundreds of tons of used clothes piled onto a ship, and possibly many more escaping undetected.
Below, a few tips from Shenzhen Evening News that can help prevent you from falling for the scam:
When buying clothes, check to see if buttons or zippers have lost their shine from being handled
Keep an eye out for curled-up tags on clothes, which may be a result of washing
Check collars, sleeves, and elbows for discoloring or wrinkles, sure signs they’ve been worn before
Excess pilling, especially on wool clothes, is another giveaway
Does the article of clothing have a noticeable smell? It might be because it’s been used, or because the store is trying to cover up an odor that can’t be washed away
If there’s only one of a certain item, it could be smuggled goods. Usually they’re sold in large packs which only contain one of each type of clothing
[Images via Taihainet.com]
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