Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1128 - 21: Caught Red-Handed

At 11:45 PM, Han Yu led the anti-smuggling team to Zha Port at the northeastern tip of Zhuangming Island and boarded a small fishing boat from the East Sea Vanguard Aquaculture Farm to embark on the Chinese Fishery Administration Ship 206, carrying out missions at the Yangtze River estuary.

Both the Yellow Sea and the East Sea have opened for fishing, and there are many fishing boats at the Yangtze River estuary.

The radar scanned once, and the screen was densely dotted with bright spots.

Deputy Captain Shen of the East Sea District Fishery Bureau, who must maintain maritime fishery production order while assisting in cracking down on smuggling, has been on the ship for over a month. He asked Han Yu with confusion as soon as he saw him: "Salted Fish, did you change your job?"

"No, not temporarily."

Deputy Captain Shen smiled and asked: "What does 'not temporarily' mean?"

Regarding the smuggling issues, what needed to be said was already mentioned over the phone. Now onboard, Han Yu felt relaxed, greeted old friends like the captain and chief officer with hand gestures, and explained with a smile: "It just means I might be transferred to Customs after a while."

"Customs have good benefits. Being transferred to Customs is fine."

"Uncle Shen, don't you find it strange?"

"We have been dealing with Customs almost every day lately. The anti-smuggling team from East Sea was just here two days ago. The superior now emphasizes cracking down on smuggling and wants to equip Customs with new anti-smuggling boats. It's quite normal for them to transfer you to Customs."

Deputy Captain Shen thought for a moment and laughed: "I also heard the General Administration of Customs wants to equip Binjiang Customs with anti-smuggling boats. By then, not only will we need to crack down on smuggling at the Yangtze River tail, but also take charge of anti-smuggling operations from Dongqi to the Salt Sea area. When we run into trouble at sea, we might call on you for support."

Han Yu asked in surprise: "Uncle Shen, how do you know everything!"

"Don't be fooled by me being on the sea every day this month, but I have a mobile phone, the ship has a radio, and a satellite phone." Deputy Captain Shen pointed towards Binjiang, proudly stating: "I know you led people from Binjiang Agricultural Bureau Fishery Station to fight floods at Beihu, know that your reserve camp was awarded the National Flood Control Advanced Group, and even know you were recognized as an anti-flood model nationwide!"

"I was about to report this to you, but it seems unnecessary now."

"Your sister and brother-in-law have been transferred to the East Sea?"

"Uncle Shen, you even know that!"

"Director He told me over the phone, and actually, you could be transferred here as well."

"It's not that easy."

"You're now not part of the Changhang Police, so transferring to Changhang East Sea Police Branch might not be easy, but you could be transferred to our Fishery Administration Bureau. Whether it's Customs or Coast Guard, the nature of the work on land differs, but once out at sea, the work is quite similar."

Deputy Captain Shen tapped the old control panel with deep meaning and said: "Salted Fish, despite the old age of our ship and the equipment not being very advanced, fishery administration is unlikely to keep the same ship forever. Moreover, whether it's Customs' anti-smuggling boats or Coast Guard patrol boats, they can only patrol near the coast. We are different; we have to go to far seas or even conduct ocean voyages."

The elder in front of him once mobilized him to transfer to the Fishery Administration when he was a station chief at Binjiang.

He didn't expect after several years, he would bring this up again.

Han Yu couldn't help but smile and said: "Uncle Shen, I've already promised to transfer to Customs, so I can't go back on my word. Besides, I'm not alone now; I have to consider my family."

"That's true, transferring only you to the East Sea and leaving Xiang Ning in Binjiang isn't very suitable."

"Moreover, I've been job-hopping for years, even though it's all in Binjiang. But changing jobs too frequently isn't good."

The benefits in the Fishery Administration Bureau are not as good as Customs, and the Fishery Administration Bureau doesn't have advanced fishery boats. Besides, Salted Fish doesn't want to transfer to the Fishery Administration now. Even if he wanted to, transferring here would be underutilization.

Thinking about the Customs officers and Armed Police Han Yu brought from Binjiang resting in the lower crew cabin, Deputy Captain Shen simply changed the topic: "The phone signal was bad just now, so I didn't hear clearly. What operation is taking place tonight, and how should we assist?"

In the annual campaign against illegal eel fry smuggling, Han Yu always boards this meritorious fishery administration ship, becoming too familiar with it.

He walked over, pulled out a map of the waters, and illuminated it with a flashlight: "Our colleagues on shore received information that tonight there might be a cigarette smuggling ship docking at the Dongqi Yongchang Water Factory Pier. The shore is already secured, just waiting for the smugglers to walk into the trap.

But we don't know which ship is smuggling cigarettes or its sailing speed. If the smugglers sense anything wrong and flee out to the sea by ship, our colleagues on shore will be helpless by then. So we rushed over in the middle of the night to request your assistance in interception."

Yongchang Water Plant Pier isn't far from here.

Deputy Captain Shen glanced at the maritime map, raised his head, and said: "Old Li, tell Xiao Wu to stay alert and closely observe any activity at the estuary."

"Okay."

"Uncle Shen, we actually have quite a few law enforcement vessels, but we need to conduct enforcement along the main waterway. Also, nobody knows if the smugglers have planted spotters along the river, so we can't mobilize law enforcement vessels from Sanhe over here."

"I understand, I've heard you guys have been conducting stringent checks lately."

Han Yu curiously asked: "How did you know?"

Deputy Captain Shen pointed to the high-frequency radio: "We're at the Yangtze River estuary every day and can hear sailors on sea ships bragging and swearing on the radio every day. Several ships heading into the Yangtze River heard they have to queue for inspections at your place, preferring to drift at sea rather than rush into the Yangtze River."

The ongoing water-based anti-smuggling operation has indeed impacted river-sea cargo transportation.

Those sea vessels, worried about being inspected when sailing into Binjiang waters, find the Yangtze River channel relatively narrow, unlike the broader sea where they could drift or anchor in shallow waters. Fearing getting stuck without anchorage going in, making retreat difficult, not rushing into the Yangtze is understandable.