SEVEN officers with the Shatoujiao branch of Shenzhen Customs stood trial Sunday at Yantian People’s Court on charges of taking bribes, giving bribes and allowing smuggling to take place.

    The defendants, four male and three female, are all from the fourth inspection department at Shatoujiao Checkpoint.

    The department was in charge of inspecting vehicles crossing the border on Zhongying Street.

    According to the prosecutors, Zheng Xiaowu, deputy chief of the department, divided the officers into three teams in December 2013, assigning the plate numbers of the vehicles that were carrying smuggled goods to each officer and then designating each officer to contact the smugglers to ask for bribes. Each driver was charged between 1,200 and 1,500 yuan (US$190-238) per crossing. Each officer was given 300 to 500 yuan for each smuggler they green-lighted, and the ill-gotten money was distributed among them at the end of each month. Each officer received between 30,000 and 40,000 yuan a month.

    In December 2014, six smugglers paid 410,000 yuan to the officers and three other smugglers gave them 190,000 yuan. The money was shared among Zheng and his subordinates.

    Zheng also took another 140,000 yuan in bribes between August 2012 and January 2014 from other smugglers, along with another officer, Chen Guorong.

    Zheng was also accused of paying 210,000 yuan in bribes to Wu Wenkui, then head of Shatoujiao branch of Shenzhen Customs, and 130,000 yuan to Chen Ruiquan, deputy Party chief of the branch, who in turn promoted Zheng to department chief, between September 2012 and December 2013.

    Wu was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Nanshan District court for taking 310,000 yuan in bribes and abusing power in promoting his subordinates in September last year.

    Zhongying Street is governed by the Chinese mainland on one side and by Hong Kong on the other. Inbound travelers are not allowed to carry daily items worth more than 5,000 yuan across the border each time. (Han Ximin)