On June 30, 2010, the defendant, Shi Xiuhong arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport on a flight from Congo. Shi carried two pieces of blackwood and chose to go through the “Non-declare channel” to enter China (declared nothing to the customs). The customs officials discovered the blackwood packed in silver paper in his suitcase, and the hollow black wood contained elephant tusks, which weighed 2.086kg in total. The next day, 20 ivory products, weighing 0.865kg, were discovered in the milk powder cans and cups which were also packed in silver paper in another suitcase belonging to the defendant. The seized elephant tusks and ivory products were worth 206293.317 RMB in total.
Shi Xiuhong claimed that he was entrusted by other person to carry the blackwood back and to hand it over to a professor in China. He alleged to not know that there were elephant tusks in the blackwood before he was stopped by the customs.
The Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou City
These proceedings were Criminal (Undermining Order of Socialist Market Economy).
On June 2, 2011, based on the criminal facts and circumstances of the defendant and the degree of harm to the society, the Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou City rendered the following judgment:
Defendant: Shi Xiuhong
Verdict: Guilty
Charge/Claim: Smuggling
Term of imprisonment: 5 years imprisonment
Fine/Payment to the State: 20000 RMB
The captured raw ivory tusks and products smuggled by Shi Xiuhong were to be confiscated.
The High People's Court of Guangdong Province
The defendant brought an appeal to the High People's Court of Guangdong Province. The appeal was, however, dismissed.
1st Instance:
The defendant, Shi Xiuhong, carrying rare wildlife products into China and avoiding the supervision of the customs, violated the Chinese laws and regulations of the customs. According to the Article 151 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, his act constitutes a crime of smuggling.
The defendant told the customs officials that he accepted the entrustment casually at the airport without knowing the real identity of the consignor and the name, address and the contact details of the consignee, which is obviously not reasonable. Furthermore, it is against the common sense that Shi didn’t become suspicious and didn’t check the packages carefully when he was asked to carry goods which were specially packed in silver paper (the ivory products he intended to carry into China were also packed in silver paper). After investigation, the consignor whom Shi Xiuhong claimed to be a native of Sichuan Province and called Ma Jingwu was not found.
The defendant didn’t confess voluntarily and only admitted his crime after being arrested, in accordance to the law, he is supposed to be given life sentence. Considering that he didn’t cause serious harm to the society, he could be given punishment below the statutory level.
2nd Instance:
The defendant brought an appeal to the High People's Court of Guangdong Province. The appeal was, however, dismissed.
The High People's Court of Guangdong Province
