Lu Changji was among eight individuals sentenced for their roles in a pangasius smuggling empire based in the southeast Chinese province of Fujian, the court heard during sentencing on April 9.
According to local media reports, the group smuggled 41,000 metric tons of pangasius products from Vietnam into China over three years, selling two out of every three pangasius fillets consumed in Fujian.
When seized pangasius products stored by the group in warehouses were auctioned off by local customs authorities, it caused a drop in local market prices, according to local reports.
In total, the company imported CNY 600 million ($89.5m) worth of pangasius products illegally and evaded CNY 107m in customs duties.
Other members of the group were sentenced to up to 11-and-a-half years in jail, while the group was fined a total of CNY 110m. In his verdict, presiding judge Lin Xueyi described the case as an "especially large customs fraud".
The smugglers were arrested following anti-smuggling raids in late December 2017.
The raids sparked a series of arrests during 2018 which shook China’s seafood industry and resulted in a significant reorientation of trade from illegal channels to official ports of entry.
The court heard the group, which operated under a registered Chinese company called Fujian Anxin Industrial, employed inhabitants of border towns to bring goods from northern Vietnam into China.
Those living in border towns are permitted to import small quantities of products for personal or small business use without paying customs duties but would load the products onto trucks for wider distribution. According to local media, besides southeast China the firm sold its products in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Zhengzhou.
The court heard the group, which operated under a registered Chinese company called Fujian Anxin Industrial, employed inhabitants of border towns to bring goods from northern Vietnam into China.
Those living in border towns are permitted to import small quantities of products for personal or small business use without paying customs duties but would load the products onto trucks for wider distribution. According to local media, besides southeast China the firm sold its products in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Zhengzhou.