Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1135 - 24: The Real Major Case (Part 2)

"Hmm."

"Does Customs really want to equip anti-smuggling boats like warships?"

"Yes."

"Are there really machine guns on the anti-smuggling boats?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you take me with you! I can do everything Xiao Gong can, I also want to be on a warship, I want to shoot a machine gun too!"

"If you transfer with me to Customs, then who will look after the house?"

Han Yu smiled and continued, "Besides, you've been doing pretty well in the Changhang Police System. Uncle Ge said even the leaders at the Changhang Police Bureau know of you. In the Changhang Police, you are a treasure, but at Customs, you'd just be a nobody! Rather than being a nobody, it's better to be a treasure at the Changhang Police Bureau."

Xiao Yu asked in a low voice, "What about you?"

"I'm pretty much just a nobody in Customs too, just someone who navigates a ship."

"Since Customs considers you a nobody, why did you transfer over?"

"I like the anti-smuggling boat that's about to be equipped for Customs." Afraid Xiao Yu wouldn't understand, Han Yu pointed at the river surface: "The law enforcement vessels on the river are all ours, understand?"

Xiao Yu realized, just about to praise the brilliant move, when he saw Han Yu suddenly freeze.

Ma Jintao also noticed Han Yu was staring dumbfoundedly at a small sea wheel navigating upstream, and asked in a low voice, "Secretary Han, what's the matter?"

"I've seen that ship before."

"I've seen it too." Ma Jintao stood up, picked up the binoculars, and while observing, said: "Fengsheng 36, Hanwu's domestic trade ship, launched in '89, used to run the East Sea route, now it seems to run to Qingdao. Once it was speeding, we even boarded it with the 'Boss Lady' to investigate."

Han Yu took the binoculars from Ma Jintao's hand, stared intently at the cargo ship, and smiled: "The last time I saw it, it wasn't called that."

Ma Jintao asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Xiao Yu, help me tell Wu Youming that we have an emergency task, we'll congratulate him on his new opening tomorrow." Han Yu didn't have time to explain further, put down the binoculars, and picked up the walkie-talkie: "Linghai Traffic Control, Water Police Third Team calling Linghai Traffic Control."

"Received, received, Secretary Han, please go ahead."

"Fengsheng 36, currently navigating upstream, has issues. Please order them to proceed to anchorage 2 for an inspection immediately."

"What's the issue?"

"It's unclear at the moment, we'll figure it out together when we get on board."

"Received!"

"Secretary Han, I'm going to put on a life jacket and grab the gear." Ma Jintao, although unaware of the ship's issues, seeing Han Yu's seriousness, believed the ship indeed had problems.

Xiao Yu didn't want to miss the action either and said without hesitation: "Salted Fish, I'll start the boat, we'll get back to Wu Youming later."

"Alright."

The particularly suspicious cargo ship entered the Yangtze River; Han Yu wasn't worried it would escape.

Unhurriedly, he put on a life jacket and, along with Ma Jintao, went to the armory below deck to get the equipment. Once back, Senior Sister and Hu Genhua had already driven to the riverbank and were running along the steel floating bridge to the Dunship.

"Salted Fish, what's going on?"

"Didn't I last accompany the East Sea District Fishery Bureau's Fishery Administration Ship for anti-smuggling at sea? On the way back, after drawing a blank, I saw this ship from Hanwu. That day it wasn't called Fengsheng 36, and it wasn't flying the Chinese flag."

Han Xiangning suddenly realized, jumped onto the aft deck of Yangtze Police 110, held onto the railing, and looked at the cargo ship changing course with signal lights, asking: "Does it have dual procedures, being a domestic trade ship on the Yangtze and nearshore, and a foreign ship in the open sea?"

"Yes, when I saw it at sea, it was flying the Panama flag, called the 'Pigeon Orchid' or something."

"Secretary Han, Chief Han, can a cargo ship have two nationalities?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why does it have dual registrations?"

"We'll find out when we check."

...

Whether ocean-going or river ships, foreign or domestic vessels, as long as they enter Linghai waters, they must comply with Linghai Traffic Control directions.

Fengsheng 36 received the order from Linghai Traffic Control and cooperatively entered anchorage 2.

Xiao Yu steered Yangtze Police 110 around Fengsheng 36 three times, confirming the ship dropped its dual anchors as ordered and lowered the pilot ladder, then slowly approached.

Safety is the priority in river law enforcement.

Xiao Yu picked up the loudspeaker and ordered the crew on deck to step back.

Ma Jintao held a Type 81, stood on the aft deck of Yangtze Police 110 as a lookout, covering Han Yu as he boarded the ship.

After confirming Han Yu got on the cargo ship's deck, he let Hu Genhua and the "Boss Lady" board together, with himself being the last one to board. Xiao Yu stayed on Yangtze Police 110 to wait.

As for the port supervision inspection, Fengsheng 36's Captain, Chief Officer, and Second Officer weren't too worried, not just because they had done nothing wrong this time — even if they had, it would just be a fine.

Even the police boarding with guns together with port supervision for inspection wasn't a big deal.

Sailors frequently navigating Linghai waters knew port supervision in Linghai always had armed police support during fines.

"Chief Han, long time no see, did we violate any regulations?"

"Captain Wang, don't you know if you've violated any?"

"I'm honestly not sure this time, I've been on the bridge the entire time."

The setting sun made upstream navigation visibility poor, and there were many ships on the river; in such situations, captains had to be on duty on the bridge.

Han Xiangning glanced at the Helmsman and Chief Officer who had just entered the bridge and said expressionlessly, "Routine check, please provide the navigation log, cargo records, oil records, and import/export port reports."

"Chief Han, it's not like you haven't checked our ship before. If I've violated anything, just let me know."

"Captain Wang, please cooperate with our inspection."

"Alright, I'll get it."

Han Yu and Ma Jintao waited at the bridge for about five minutes before the Captain returned with a pile of documents.

At the same time, Yang Yong, Xiao Gong, and Xiao Chen arrived with Binjiang Police 002.

Xiao Yu handed over Yangtze Police 110 to Xiao Chen and climbed up the ship with Yang Yong and Xiao Gong through the pilot ladder.

Suddenly, three more police officers arrived, all armed.

The Captain and crew suddenly became very nervous, not daring to look directly at Han Yu and the others.

While flipping through the navigation log, Han Xiangning asked in a low voice, "Captain Wang, do you know why we need to inspect your ship?"

"I don't know."

"Do you really not know, or are you pretending?"

"Chief Han, I truly don't know. Please don't scare me."

He can fabricate sailing logs and other documents, writing them however he wishes.

It was getting dark, and Han Yu didn't want to waste any time. He cleared his throat and said, "Captain, it's not just the Port Supervision that's here to inspect your ship; we, the police, are as well. We need to inspect your crew cabin and cargo hold now. Please cooperate."

"Officer, we are a domestic trade vessel, not a foreign trade vessel. Even if we were a foreign trade vessel, you police need a search warrant to inspect our crew cabin!"

"I suspect you of smuggling!"

With a serious and stern expression, Han Yu said, "According to the 'Notice on Strictly Cracking Down on Smuggling Criminal Activities' issued by our superiors this July, we have the right to inspect your ship. Besides, I'm not just a public security police officer but also the Director of the Linghai City Anti-Smuggling Office."

After Han Yu spoke, he showed his police identification.

Xiao Gong, who had just boarded the ship, immediately opened his satchel and took out a notification document.

Both the crew cabin and cargo hold couldn't withstand inspection. The captain realized he was in big trouble and quickly winked at the Chief Officer.

The Chief Officer steadied his nerves and fawningly smiled, "Chief Han, Officer, there's no way we could be smuggling. We might have violated some regulations, just didn't pay attention ourselves. You tell us how to be penalized, we'll comply. Let me get something, so we can be friends."

"Get what?" Han Yu grabbed his arm and fixed his gaze on him, saying, "We're here for anti-smuggling, not to make friends."

"Officer..."

"Notify all crew members to gather at the bridge and cooperate with us in inspecting the crew cabin."

These police and port supervision officials weren't accepting any bribes. The captain was scared out of his wits, his legs trembling involuntarily. If he weren't holding onto the bridge, he might not have been able to stand up.

The Chief Officer had no choice but to muster his courage to pick up the intercom and order the crew.

Once the crew gathered, Han Yu signaled Ma Jintao and others to take the crew to inspect the cabins, then casually flipped through the documents provided by the captain, saying lightly, "Captain Wang, what's the point of changing the ship's name and nationality? Did you take a trip to Japan or South Korea this time?"

This remark was like a bolt from the blue, frightening the already scared captain out of his wits.

"Dove Orchid, is that a type of orchid?"

"Officer, Chief Han, it's not my fault. I'm just the captain. I do whatever the company asks me to do, and go wherever the company tells me to go..."

"If the company tells you to kill someone, you'll do it too?"

"I..."

"Confess honestly, which country did you go to this time?"

"South Korea, no, it was Korea."

"Which port did you dock at?"

"Busan."

"What goods did you take to Korea, and what did you bring back from Korea?"

"Went there empty, brought back... some cigarettes."

"Is the cargo hold full of smuggled cigarettes?"

"There's other cargo too, that was loaded at Qingdao Port."

"How many cigarettes were smuggled?" Han Yu pursued further.

The police were inspecting the crew cabin. Once finished, they would check the cargo hold. Though the captain hesitated briefly, he realized he couldn't hide it and replied with a downcast expression, "Eight thousand boxes."

Han Xiangning was stunned, unable to believe they smuggled so many cigarettes.

Hu Genhua also couldn't believe his ears and instinctively looked towards the cargo hold.

Han Yu was equally shocked, but soon calmed down, asking, "All foreign cigarettes?"

"No."

"Then what kind of cigarettes?"

...

The Panama ship certificate was found, and the cigarettes in the cargo hold were revealed to everyone.

The captain's confession left Han Yu and others dumbfounded. All these cigarettes were genuine domestic cigarettes, exported through regular channels by their company.

However, these cigarettes were not sold to overseas smokers but were used as "props" for smuggling and tax fraud. They were first exported to their overseas affiliate companies, then applied for tax rebates according to regulations, and then shipped back by changing the ship's nationality and name, flowing into the market through various channels.

Since a large portion of the cigarette price is tax, they could reap an extra profit in the sales process.

Repeating this, not only did they evade national taxes but also defrauded the national tax rebate, stretching their greedy hands into the national treasury!

Despite previously investing so much manpower and resources, not a single major case was uncovered, yet once the water-based anti-smuggling operations ended, out came a major case!

Han Yu decisively ordered Ma Jintao and Xiao Yu to handcuff the captain and crew before stepping out of the bridge, pulling out his phone to report to Vice Mayor Qin.

"How many boxes?"

"Eight thousand boxes, and this is not their first smuggling attempt."

"Corporate smuggling?"

"Yes, they all follow the company's orders. They aren't just suspected of smuggling and tax fraud; they're also suspected of illegal immigration. They have two sets of ship certificates, going abroad like visiting relatives, without needing approval from the immigration department or customs!"

"Does Director Zeng know?"

"No, I haven't had the chance to report to Director Zeng yet."

This is truly a significant case, with the criminal methods being astonishing!

Vice Mayor Qin was both pleased and excited, gripping the phone tightly while smiling, "You carry on; I'll call and inform him."

Tonight, the "Old Soldier Restaurant" was bustling, and Han Yu was eager to reunite with his comrades, urgently saying, "Mayor Qin, could you ask Director Zeng to hurry, send more people to take over, I have plans tonight."

"It's just Wu Youming opening a fast-food restaurant; I know about it. I'll inform Director Zeng."

"Mayor Qin, you even know about Wu Youming's fast-food restaurant opening?"

"I'm the First Political Commissioner of the Binjiang Reserve Team. How could I not know about the soldiers who participated in flood relief opening stores?"

"Oh."

"I'll hang up now. Keep an eye on the people and the smuggled cigarettes, and remember to report to Zhou Huixin."

"Understood."

...

PS: Planning to go to the hospital tomorrow. Might not have time to write, wanted to stay up late to write two chapters but accidentally updated while setting up automatic upload, so directly updated, not updating tomorrow.