Rotting frozen meat from the 1970s smuggled through Hong Kong into China
Crackdown by mainland customs nets illegally imported frozen products worth 3 billion yuan and identifies the city as a transit point
China's customs has named Hong Kong as a transit point for frozen meat smuggled into the mainland, having netted more than 3 billion yuan (HK$3.8 billion) worth of illegal frozen chicken, beef and pork - some of it up to four decades old.
In the most recent operation, officers in Changsha, Hunan province, found 800 tonnes of smuggled frozen meat worth 10 million yuan - including beef, chicken feet and duck necks - at a local wholesale market on June 1, Xinhua reported.
The meat found in Changsha had been shipped to Hong Kong in containers before being packed together and sent on to Vietnam's northern seaport of Haiphong. The meat was then broken up into smaller consignments at the border city of Mong Cai before being smuggled into China.
After arriving in Changsha, the meat had been destined for dissemination to other parts of China, such as Guangdong, Sichuan and Chongqing, where it would enter restaurants, supermarkets or be sold online.
Xinhua reported that 20 people were arrested during the customs operation in Changsha.
The origin of the frozen meat was not disclosed, but some of it had been stamped with packing dates as far back as the 1970s.