China has conducted a nationwide campaign to crack down on refined oil smuggling.
As of Friday, more than two thousand marine police, anti-smuggling police and armed policemen in eight cities have captured more than 250 suspects and seized 440-thousand tons of refined oil.
The campaign has also detained 27 ships.
It is estimated that the total value involved amounts to 2.2 billion yuan, or some 360 million US dollars.
The campaign is the largest of its kind in recent years.
Zhu Feng, Deputy director of the anti-smuggling bureau under China's General Administration of Customs says: "Oil smuggling harms our country's economic order and leads to unfair market competition. Many legal enterprises have been impacted. Oil smuggling also involves tax evasion."
According to Chinese customs authorities, the smugglers have developed a wide variety of methods and the smuggling of refined oil is rampant across the country.
The smuggled oil contains large amounts of impurities and falls beneath quality standards.
This of course poses huge a potential threat to the public safety.
China has intensified its crackdown on refined oil smuggling since last month.
The customs authorities have detected 28 refined oil smuggling cases nationwide, involving around 2.7 billion yuan.
