On January 21, Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court issued a first-instance judgment on the case of seven people, including Yang, smuggling goods prohibited from import and export by the state. It is understood that nearly half of the smuggled frozen products involved in this case came from the "African swine fever" epidemic area.
The public prosecutor accused the defendant Yang of hiring other people involved in the case to barge more than 95 tons of frozen pig’s feet in the sea off Dongtou, Wenzhou on March 18, 2020, of which more than 45 tons came from "African swine fever" epidemic areas such as Greece and Poland, and more than 49 tons came from non-epidemic areas or unknown origin.
According to reports, 6,993 pig’s trotters were involved, from Canada, Greece, Poland and other places. When the customs inspectors appeared in court as witnesses, they pointed out that according to the List of Animals and Their Products Prohibited from Imported from Countries and Regions with Epidemic Animal Diseases of the General Administration of Customs, Greece and Poland belong to African swine fever epidemic areas, and African swine fever is highly contagious to animals.
The court held that seven defendants, including Yang and Lin, ganged up to smuggle goods prohibited by the state, and the circumstances were serious, which constituted the crime of smuggling goods prohibited by the state. The defendant, Yang, was once sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for a crime, and committed the crime of being sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or more within five years after the execution of the penalty. He was a recidivist and was sentenced to six years and six months in prison and fined 200,000 yuan. The defendant Lin and other six people were accomplices. The court sentenced Lin to one year and six months in prison according to the specific circumstances and fined him 100,000 yuan. The remaining five people were each sentenced to one year and six months in prison, suspended for two years, and fined 50,000 yuan.