SIXTEEN suspects who were allegedly involved in smuggling red oil worth 1.45 billion yuan (US$221 million) last year have pleaded guilty in a court.
Red oil, also called marked oil and used only in Hong Kong and Macao, is a light diesel containing a red dye.
The 16 suspects, who were either captains or seamen on five fishing boats in Guangdong Province, admitted in court Friday that they were paid by a smuggling syndicate to load red oil in the Baishijiao area in Hong Kong and transport it to the mainland.
Between August 2009 and Jan. 31 last year, the suspects were paid to smuggle the red oil which was subject to 22.54 million yuan in tax.
Each captain was paid 1,500 yuan a month and an extra 200 yuan for each shipment.
The syndicate, which was led by Tan Weijun, allegedly used 22 fishing boats to smuggle 222,000 tons of red oil worth about 1.45 billion yuan.
The trail is continuing.
(Li Hao)
