people who brought dried seahorses and shark fins into china as "food" were sentenced
2024-09-19
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the national day is approaching. friends who like to buy special foods when traveling abroad or working abroad should be aware that bringing some special ingredients into the country may constitute a crime. recently, the fourth intermediate people's court of beijing tried a case of smuggling wild animal products. the defendant sun brought a large number of dried seahorses and shark fins into the country when he returned from working abroad. he was eventually sentenced to three years and three months in prison and fined 100,000 yuan for the crime of smuggling precious animal products.
sun had worked abroad for many years. when he was about to return to china, he bought some shark fins and dried seahorses to bring back for consumption. before he left the country, sun's unit had trained him on what items were prohibited from being brought back to china. before he returned to china, sun's colleagues also reminded him again through wechat. however, sun still took the chance and embarked on his journey back to china with the dried seahorses and shark fins he bought, and chose to enter the country through the no-declaration channel after landing.
beijing customs found something strange about sun during the entry inspection and conducted an inspection. they found more than 300 dried seahorses and more than 20 shark fins in his suitcase, with a total value of more than 400,000 yuan. after identification, the dried seahorses were found to be clark's seahorses and pacific seahorses, while the shark fins were from porbeagle sharks and mako sharks. all four species are listed in appendix ii of the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (cites), and are rare and endangered species.
after trial, the beijing no. 4 intermediate people's court held that the defendant sun violated customs regulations and wildlife protection regulations, evaded customs supervision, and smuggled precious animal products into the country. his behavior constituted the crime of smuggling precious animal products and should be punished according to law. in view of the fact that sun took the initiative to surrender after being notified by the investigation agency by phone, and voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, and showed good remorse, it can be determined that the circumstances of the crime are relatively minor, and he can be given a lighter and lenient punishment. in summary, based on the facts, nature, circumstances and degree of harm to society of the defendant sun's crime, in accordance with the criminal law of the people's republic of china and relevant judicial interpretations, the beijing no. 4 intermediate people's court finally sentenced sun to three years and three months in prison for the crime of smuggling precious animal products, and imposed a fine of 100,000 yuan. at present, the judgment of the case has come into effect.
■judge's statement
according to the second paragraph of article 151 of the criminal law of the people's republic of china, anyone who smuggles precious animals and their products that are prohibited from import and export by the state shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and a fine; if the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment and confiscation of property; if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years and a fine. the amount of precious animal products smuggled by sun was more than 400,000 yuan. according to the third paragraph of article 2 of the interpretation of the supreme people's court and the supreme people's procuratorate on several issues concerning the application of law in handling criminal cases of destruction of wildlife resources, if the smuggling of precious animals and their products is worth more than 200,000 yuan but less than 2 million yuan, it can be deemed as "relatively minor circumstances", so sun was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years.
according to relevant laws and regulations of my country, any form of carrying, mailing or trading of endangered species and their products is illegal unless you hold a certificate issued by the national endangered species import and export management agency. behind the seemingly "precious" ingredients, there are often various links involving illegal hunting, transportation, and trading of wild animals. these illegal and criminal acts have led to many animals being on the verge of extinction and destroyed the ecological balance. the distorted consumption concept of wildlife products by some groups will further stimulate the rampant illegal trade. therefore, the judge reminded that when people traveling or working abroad return to china, they should be cautious when carrying animal products to avoid unnecessary troubles caused by ignorance or fluke.
author: liu jinning zheng bingbing
source: people's court daily
