A total of 1,903 cases of premium wines including Bordeaux first growths and Napa cult wines were nabbed by customs authorities in Shanghai.
According to Shanghai customs department, officers discovered that a large batch of imported goods in Jinhua bonded area including premium ham and wines that have falsified and massively under reported for their value.
The wines involve 1,903 cases of premium wines including Bordeaux first growths, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Napa cult wine, Opus One, and what appears to be Chile’s icon wine Almaviva from images released by Shanghai customs department.
There were also 508 premium hams mixed in the batch. The total value of the hams and wines were declared for a combined value of €19,271, which would make a case of Lafite grand vin less than €10. A bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild grand vin would normally retails around RMB 4,000 based on JD.com, China’s second biggest e-commerce platform.
The customs did not disclose the contraband wines’ market value, but it would be in millions at least.
The suspects are suspected of falsifying documents to evade taxes and port inspection, which would constitute as smuggling based on Chinese laws.
The case is now under investigation by anti-smuggling authorities.
