Chinese authorities have uncovered a major wine and spirits smuggling operation involving more than 145 million yuan (about US$20 million) in evaded taxes, one of the country’s largest alcohol-related smuggling cases in recent years, according to court documents released by the Guangdong Provincial High People’s Court.
The case involved a complex network of coordinated smuggling schemes that exploited loopholes in cross-border e-commerce and high-volume trade routes between Hong Kong and mainland China. Remarkably, the operation was orchestrated by a man identified only by his surname, Zhuang — born in 1991 and with no more than a junior high school education — who masterminded the entire network between 2020 and 2022.
According to the court, Zhuang began working with a freight handler named Long in 2020. Between June and August of that year, he purchased wine and spirits in Hong Kong and arranged for them to be transported to the Wuhan Free Trade Zone. The shipments were then falsely declared as personal-use items through cross-border e-commerce platforms to benefit from tax exemptions and reduced rates. The products were later resold in cities such as Shantou. Authorities said 29,886 bottles were smuggled during this period, evading more than 6.8 million yuan (US$938,500) in taxes.
Zhuang resumed smuggling in July 2021 after being commissioned by a client identified as Gu. He worked with a customs clearance syndicate led by a Hong Kong-based intermediary named Ye, paying between 45 and 292 yuan per bottle to move goods into the mainland. From August to October 2021, Zhuang smuggled 4,895 bottles, evading over 2.3 million yuan (US$318,000) in taxes.
In a separate operation beginning in March 2021, Zhuang was hired by another mainland client, Li, to smuggle fine wines into China using the same network. Over a 16-month period, Zhuang helped smuggle 8,256 bottles, with tax evasion totaling more than 3.35 million yuan (US$463,000).
One of the largest smuggling operations in the case involved a Fujian-based company that partnered with Ye to move large quantities of Penfolds wine into mainland warehouses. Zhuang participated in that scheme as well, which took place in early 2021 and resulted in more than 132.8 million yuan ($18.3 million) in evaded taxes.
Zhuang turned himself in to authorities in December 2022 and encouraged his accomplices to do the same. He voluntarily returned 150,000 yuan (US$20,700) in illicit profits and prepaid an equivalent amount as a fine. He was later sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 2 million yuan ($276,000) for smuggling ordinary goods.
The court said Zhuang used two main smuggling methods: falsifying cross-border e-commerce declarations and working with smuggling syndicates operating along Hong Kong-mainland trade corridors.
Although specific techniques were not detailed, officials believe the goods were concealed, underreported, or falsely declared at customs. Some shipments likely passed through freight vehicles or cargo ships during the 2020–2022 period, when COVID-19 restrictions had closed the border to passenger travel.
Authorities said the case highlights how smugglers have exploited regulatory loopholes and the volume of Hong Kong-mainland trade to build a professional, underground supply chain.
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