7 men jailed for waste smuggling
One of the convicts stands trial at the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court.
Seven people who illegally imported industrial waste have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from 18 months to four years.
The seven were involved in three smuggling cases in which more than 1,200 tons of waste was illegally imported, Shanghai No.3 Intermediate People’s Court said yesterday.
In one case, three men fabricated import permits and made false declarations to customs that they were importing copper ore and pig iron. Instead, they brought in more than 300 tons of mining slag. They received jail terms ranging from two to four years.
The other two cases were interrelated.
One man, surnamed Cheng, obtained import licences for legal solid waste. Cheng's associate, surnamed Zhang, used the licences to import nearly 900 tons of banned waste such as metal scrap. Cheng was jailed for four years and Zhang was jailed for three years and nine months.
In a separate trial, two executives from the companies which gave Cheng his licenses were given suspended sentences.
