Police have busted seven pig and cow smuggling rings across China in an orchestrated operation, seizing 39 suspects, according to a statement released by Nanning customs Wednesday.
The operation was carried out on April 25 by more than 400 police officers in cities of Nanning, Nanchang, Ningbo, Wuhan and Chongqing.
Starting August 2015, suspects Tang, Lu and Wei began purchasing pigs and cows in Vietnam for a suspect named Li to smuggle into China, according to Nanning customs in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The animals were then sold to Jiangxi and Hubei provinces and Chongqing Municipality.
Smuggled pigs and cows are often sold at cheaper prices, disturbing the domestic market.
About 50,000 pigs and 30,000 cows had been smuggled as of April 25, worth an estimated value of 150 million yuan (23.5 million U.S. dollars), according to customs.
