Customs in south China's Guangdong Province seized more than 1,600 tons of smuggled frozen food valued at 60 million yuan (9 million U.S. dollars) during the National Day holiday.
Two ships carrying a total of 60 containers of frozen food were seized in Zhuhai City by Gongbei Customs, said Wang Jianyuan, head of the customs' anti-smuggling bureau.
Chicken feet from the United States, beef tripe from Brazil, beef from Poland, pig intestines from Spain and pigs' feet from Australia were among the goods seized.
The containers had no freezing function at all, and some of the food had already gone obviously bad, with noticeably strong smells all around while unloading, he said.
Unlike previous cases in which foreign vessels or fishing boats were used, the suspects hired two retired cargo ships licensed in China, making the smuggling seem legal during transport, said Wang.
