A massive cross-border booze smuggling ring has been busted in southern China after authorities seized more than half a million bottles of wine and premium spirits worth over RMB 575 million (US$80 million).
Customs officials in Zhuhai said the operation — one of the largest alcohol smuggling cases publicly revealed in China this year — uncovered an elaborate scheme that exploited Macau’s zero-tariff wine policy to flood the mainland with high-end imports.
Investigators say the mastermind, identified only as Li, began running the racket as early as 2022. His method? Recruit frequent border crossers to ferry small amounts of wine and top-shelf spirits into mainland China, one bottle at a time.
The tactic, known in Chinese as “ant moving,” involves smuggling small quantities at a time through repeated trips — like ants carrying crumbs one by one — to avoid detection. Under current rules, travelers entering mainland China from Macau can bring in one bottle of alcohol duty-free, as long as it doesn’t exceed 750 milliliters. Li’s network allegedly sent waves of backpackers back and forth across the border, each carrying a legal quantity — but collectively moving a fortune.
The smuggled goods were dropped off at discreet handover points near the busy Gongbei border crossing, which handles more than 100 million passenger trips a year. From there, shipments were quietly moved inland and sold nationwide.
The operation began to unravel when customs officers noticed something odd: a nameless, unmarked storefront near the port. People kept walking in with bags — and walking out empty-handed. The shop didn’t look like a real business, but it was bustling.
Investigators say it was one of Li’s delivery hubs.
Once enough bottles were stockpiled, they were loaded into vans in the dead of night and driven to an abandoned parking lot for transfer. The booze was then shipped to Li’s wine shop in Shenzhen, authorities said.
A raid on the warehouse turned up more than 1,000 cases of legally declared wine — but officials say that was just a smokescreen to cover up far larger volumes of illicit imports. Two additional drop points were allegedly disguised as an incense store and a bedding shop.
Among the seized bottles were large quantities of Penfolds, the Australian wine brand hugely popular at Chinese business banquets. Between 2022 and early 2024, China slapped anti-dumping tariffs of up to 218% on Australian wine. But wine entering via Macau remained tariff-free — creating a lucrative price gap that smugglers were quick to exploit.
However, the authorities did not disclose the quantities of Penfolds from the raid.
After months of investigation, authorities launched coordinated raids across Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Quanzhou, arresting 19 suspects and dismantling five smuggling groups.
Officials have not yet released details about potential charges or sentencing.
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