Chinese police arrested 54 members of three gangs for bringing over 72,000 tonnes of used laptops and parts into the country illegally, custom officials said today.
Acting in cooperation with police, customs authorities in Guangdong and Liaoning Provinces and Tianjin Municipality arrested the gang members in a raid on January 5, an official with the General Administration of Customs told state-run Xinhua news agency.
More than 500 police personnel took part in the raid and seized 185 shipping containers and more than 200 additional tonnes of products.
Investigations showed the gangs had smuggled over 72,000 tonnes of "e-trash" or electronic waste since 2013, the largest quantity ever discovered. The materials were hidden in over 2,800 containers.
The e-trash came from Japan and some European countries, the official said.
