Another case of smuggling has emerged from the Shenzhen border. No, it wasn’t crystal meth this time, nor was it iPhones, porno, video games, bullets, diamonds or human blood. This time, customs agents are reporting that they’ve seized 23 enormous, brightly colored Japanese koi, some measuring over a meter in length.
The attempted crossing was foiled Monday morning, the People's Daily reports, when drivers of a van transporting the ornamental carp declared it empty at the Wenjindu Border Checkpoint with Hong Kong. Upon investigation however, customs officials discovered a carefully sealed box concealing the contraband fishies.
Alongside the 23 full-grown koi, which averaged 85 centimeters in length, border cops also found 120 small koi hatchlings.
Japanese koi can live up to 70 years and are prized collector items due to their unique color patterning. The fish routinely sell for tens of thousands of yuan, with high value specimens sometimes fetching hundreds of thousands on the open market.
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[Images via the People's Daily]
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