Briefs | Luxury smuggling gang busted in Shenzhen

Customs officers in Shenzhen have broken up a gang who smuggled luxury goods and caught nine suspects, the city’s customs authority said yesterday. A total of 105 cases of luxury brand items including watches, clothes and handbags were seized, according to the customs. Evidence collected by the customs show that the gang has smuggled luxury goods worth about 320 million yuan (about $45.3 million) since 2016, with the volume of tax evasion exceeding 60 million yuan. The smuggling gang caught the attention of local customs officers in October 2018. An investigation showed that the network was suspected of purchasing luxury goods from Italy, the United States and other countries, keeping the goods in storage in Hong Kong before sending them to customers on the Chinese mainland by express parcels that were declared under false names and lower prices. The gang also paid “carriers” to bring the goods into Chinese mainland via Shenzhen as their personal luggage and then sent them to customers by courier services, customers officers said.

Guangdong sets up emergency fund for veterans

Guangdong Province has set up a 1-billion-yuan (about $141 million) emergency assistance fund to provide temporary support for veterans and special-care recipients facing hard living conditions. The fund covers a wide range of beneficiaries with permanent residential registration in the province, including Red Army veterans, soldiers transferred to civilian work, ex-servicemen and dependents of martyrs, according to the Guangdong Department of Veterans Affairs. Allocated by the provincial government and cities above the prefecture-level in Guangdong, the fund will be used to assist the recipients in dealing with critical illnesses, major incidents, family misfortunes and other special cases, said the department.