Guangzhou customs cracks down on knife smuggling

A total of 839 controlled knives Guangzhou customs seized were destroyed in the Guangdong provincial capital on Thursday, demonstrating customs officers' determination to fight against the smuggling of controlled knives in the southern metropolis.

The knives which included soldier's swords, spring knives, choppers and sabres might have posed a very serious threat to the lives and safety of local residents if they had been smuggled into the city, according to Wu Xiaobo, deputy director of the Anti-Smuggling Bureau with Guangzhou Customs.

"The knives were seized while they were being brought into the city by lawbreakers and suspected smugglers, being smuggled into Guangdong province in its waters and being mailed via express mail service to Guangzhou since 2015," Wu said at a press conference in Guangzhou.

She hinted at the possibility of increasing special operations to fight against smuggling involving controlled knives in the months ahead to ensure a good and sound social security for the city's economic construction.

Customs in Guangzhou which is the southern gateway to the mainland have detained 10 suspects after cracking down on eight major knife smuggling cases since 2015.

Customs officers in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport seized a total of 193 controlled knives in an inspection on express mail coming from Nepal in May last year.

The shortest reached 12.6 centimeters while the longest of the controlled knives came to 28.1 centimeters.

And Dachan customs under the administration of Guangzhou customs also seized a large number of soldier's swords and daggers when they inspected two vessels in the waters at the mouth of the Pearl River in a recent anti-smuggling campaign.