Category: smuggling

China Admits Its Over-Reliance on Semiconductor Imports Could Prove ‘Fatal’

News Analysis A Chinese state-run media disclosed that China’s continued reliance on chip imports could be “fatal” to its automotive industry and national economy. On Nov. 23, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that China’s domestically produced automotive chips are primarily used in less complex vehicle components such as body electronics, while it relies heavily…


Four Men Jailed for Bid to Smuggle 69 People Into UK on Converted Fishing Boat

Four men have been jailed for trying to smuggle 69 people, including two pregnant women, into the UK on a converted fishing boat. A single trip stood to make more than £1 million for the criminals involved, and trips were planned to happen at least weekly, Chelmsford Crown Court was told. But the crew caught…


Chinese National Jailed For Smuggling US Marine Tech to China

A Chinese national and businessman has been handed a two-year prison sentence and a $20,000 fine after admitting to illegally exporting more than $100,000 in U.S. marine technology to a Chinese military research institute that has close ties with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military. Shuren Qin, a 45-year-old marine biologist and founder of LinkOcean…


7 Minors Among 29 Dead on Migrant Boat to Canary Islands

MADRID—At least 29 Africans, including seven children, died last week while trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands on a smuggling boat, according to information released Monday from a U.N. migration agency and a Spanish migrant charity in touch with victims’ relatives. Spanish maritime services on Friday rescued 27 migrants and recovered 4 bodies in the…


Greece: Dinghy With Migrants Sinks; 3 Missing, 10 Rescued

ATHENS, Greece—A search and rescue operation is underway Friday near Greece’s island of Lesbos along the maritime border with Turkey, after an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants apparently sank, authorities said. Ten people had been rescued and another three were believed to be missing, Greece’s coast guard said. Two coast guard patrol boats, a vessel from…


Texas Border Agents Intercept Travel Trailers Smuggling 74 Illegal Aliens

More than 70 illegal immigrants being smuggled into the United States in travel trailers were apprehended by border agents conducting traffic check operations in Texas, officials announced on Thursday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement a total of 74 illegal aliens were discovered in two large travel trailers on Monday at…


Germany, Slovakia Arrest 2 in Raids on Trafficking Ring

BERLIN—Two suspects were arrested in Germany and Slovakia in raids Monday on a group accused of smuggling Vietnamese into Germany and other European countries for large fees that they had to work off in massage parlors, brothels, and other places, authorities said. Police in Berlin arrested a Vietnamese woman who lives in the German capital,…


Texas Man Arrested on Smuggling Charges After 41 Immigrants Found Inside Semi-Truck

A man was taken into custody on Thursday after being accused of smuggling more than three dozen illegal immigrants who were found in and around a large tractor-trailer that was stopped by local authorities near San Antonio in Texas. Aron Bernard Griffin, 49, from Dallas was arrested on federal criminal charges that include one count of…


Texas Man Arrested on Smuggling Charges After 41 Illegal Immigrants Found Inside Semi-Truck

A man was taken into custody on Thursday after being accused of smuggling more than three dozen illegal immigrants who were found in and around a large tractor-trailer that was stopped by local authorities near San Antonio in Texas. Aron Bernard Griffin, 49, from Dallas was arrested on federal criminal charges that include one count of…


Chinese Man Pleads Guilty for Role in Scheme to Smuggle Endangered Turtles to China

A Chinese national living in California has pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle hundreds of endangered and vulnerable turtles from the United States to China, according to federal prosecutors. The Justice Department announced that 30-year-old Yuan Xie participated in a scheme with another Chinese national, Xiao Dong Qin, that would see 769 live turtles smuggled into China. The…