Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1090 - 709: Operation in Full Swing! (Part 3)

"To maintain public security, relying solely on the police is not enough, and the same goes for anti-smuggling efforts."

Zhang Lan paused for a moment, then explained, "The higher-ups have demanded a 'joint anti-smuggling task force, unified handling, comprehensive management' approach, or else Mayor Qin wouldn't serve as the leader of the city's anti-smuggling comprehensive management leadership group, and your Salted Fish wouldn't be the Director of Linghai's Anti-Smuggling Office."

It seems the higher-ups are paying great attention to anti-smuggling...

Han Xiangning reacted and asked, "So is there a lot of smuggling in Binjiang?"

"I'm not sure if there have been any major cases but a lot of minor ones have been found."

"A lot?"

"Yes, there are plenty in Linghai."

"Linghai too? Are you kidding!"

"Why would I lie?"

Zhang Lan recounted, "There's a shop next to the Linghai Post and Telecommunication Bureau that sells mobile phones and pagers. The owner of that shop made a lot of money selling mobile phones and pagers. He somehow bought a smuggled sedan, and it got seized this time.

A few owners at the Linghai Small Commodity Wholesale Market, and several enterprises in Sansing and East City Industrial Park, including some construction sites, had their sedans confiscated. The steering wheels on their cars are on the right side—clearly smuggled in!"

Linghai is not big, and there are only so many sedans running on the streets.

Han Xiangning had seen cars with right-side steering wheels more than once and speculated, "Some of those cars seem to be debt settlements."

"Debt settlements too, all have to be seized. The higher-ups want to trace back and figure out the source of the cars."

Zhang Lan went over, poured herself a glass of water, and continued, "There's also that Japan-made motorcycle that looks like a racing bike, and those bizarre Prince motorcycles. Now, if you see one, you seize one. Nine out of ten of those models are smuggled in!"

"Are we only seizing cars?"

"How could it be? It's not just about seizing cars now. We're also checking the second-hand market for second-hand appliances. Many second-hand appliances and DVD players are smuggled in. The plastic pellet factories opened by East Sea people and Zhehai people in Dongqi likely use smuggled foreign waste as raw materials, which is a focus of this crackdown."

Zhang Lan thought for a moment and continued, "Then, there's also a joint operation with the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau to check on cigarettes. Nine out of ten packs of foreign cigarettes sold in the market are estimated to be smuggled. We also have to strictly check the chemical enterprises, as many chemical raw materials are smuggled in. The steel market needs the same attention; it is rumored that some people are smuggling steel."

Han Xiangning asked in shock, "Is this a major operation?"

"It's almost like a special strike, 'joint anti-smuggling task force, unified handling, comprehensive management' isn't a joke. Customs, Disciplinary Committee, Economic Commission, Industry and Commerce, Taxation, Quality Supervision, Tobacco, and other relevant departments all have people participating in the operation. Director Zhou has mobilized over a hundred policemen from the City Bureau and District County Police Department!"

"Is the Disciplinary Committee also involved in the anti-smuggling operation?"

"Yes, because some of it is unit smuggling, corporate smuggling."

"So this is a city-level operation, not just customs?"

"It's a special operation deployed by the Central. All coastal provinces and cities are cracking down. If it were only customs, deploying so many people means the expenses would have to be borne by customs. But this time it's different; the city is footing the bill."

...

Meanwhile, Han Yu had just sent off the eighth flood peak and returned to the section of the embankment where the 132 Regiment was aiding in the rescue.

This flood peak came shortly after the seventh, essentially one wave barely subsiding before another arose. Initially, it was quite tense, as overlapping flood peaks are no joking matter.

Interestingly enough, the flood peak disappeared before entering Jianli, causing little to no impact on Jianli and Hong Lake and certainly not affecting Hanwu.

Its disappearance was fortunate, otherwise, Han Yu wouldn't have had the leisure to reunite with his jurisdictional superior unit.

Captain Peng felt guilty about the sharp decline in "Hong Kong Garrison" meal standards, and jokingly asked while eating, "Salted Fish, is your meal standard reduced like this because Li Shousong ate you poor?"

"Eating doesn't cost much. It's mainly the purchase of rescue supplies and the replacement of engineering machinery and ship equipment parts. Fuel hasn't even been counted yet. If we included fuel, we wouldn't have a meat and vegetable meal, probably just pickles with buns."

"Are rescue materials also purchased by yourselves?"

"The materials provided by the anti-flood command aren't enough. Without ammunition, how do we go on a rescue mission? We have no choice but to purchase them ourselves. The funds Director Huang painstakingly raised and the funds given by the Yangtze Flood Control Headquarters and Jingzhou Flood Control Command were spent long ago. Now we're spending on donations from the Linghai people for disaster relief."

"Our funds are also overspent."

Captain Peng took a deep breath, put down his chopsticks, and said, "Although the funds are overspent, we can't just do nothing. Yesterday, we mobilized officers and warriors for donations, went to Jingzhou, and bought books on scientific farming and breeding. We plan to distribute them to nearby victims tomorrow, publicize well, and do what we can to help them rebuild their homes."

Han Yu was stunned, staring at him clueless about what to say.

"What's wrong? Don't look at me like that!"

"Captain, you plan to have officers and warriors teach people how to farm and raise pigs?"

"Scientific farming, scientific pig raising!"

"Hahaha."

"Why are you laughing?" Captain Peng instinctively raised his head to see Secretary Wang and Wu Hai Li were also laughing.

Han Yu nearly laughed to tears, put down his chopsticks, and said, "Captain, nine out of ten of those books are written by people who have never farmed or raised pigs. If you let people farm and raise pigs according to the books, they might face losses. It's better to have Du Yuan take on a few apprentices and teach people how to build walls!"

Captain Peng asked doubtfully, "The technology written in those books isn't useful?"

"Secretary Wang, you're an expert, tell Captain Peng."

"It's not that they're useless; they're not entirely trustworthy."

Secretary Wang stifled laughter and said, "There are certain considerations for what crops to plant, given specific regional climate and soil conditions. What works in test fields doesn't mean it works elsewhere. Not to mention a magazine called 'Scientific Farming,' subscribed across local townships nationwide. But ten out of nine of the agricultural techniques it mentions are useless."

Han Yu couldn't help but ask, "What about the advertisements?"

"More nonsense, the things they promote are akin to scams. If you really believe them, you'll end up with nothing!"

"So I'm doing something wrong out of goodwill?"

"Captain, not at all. The victims are holed up in sheds all day with nothing to do; giving them a few books to pass the time is good. Besides, what's written in the books isn't entirely useless; people can take reference."

A group of soldiers actually trying to teach farmers how to farm!

Han Yu couldn't help but laugh again as he spoke.

...

PS: Today there are only two chapters, but the word count remains unchanged.

Today is the last day of March. Voices raising polls, don't forget to vote, otherwise it'll be wasted. Also, book your default monthly ticket for tomorrow. On the 15th of next month, I'll be going to Jinan; updates may be unstable around the 15th, but on other days, I'll strive to keep updating ten thousand words daily.