Three smuggling gangs have been busted for bringing over 72,000 tonnes of used laptops and parts into China illegally, customs have said.
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In cooperation with police, customs authorities in Guangdong Province, Liaoning Province and Tianjin Municipality arrested 54 gang members in a raid on Jan. 5, an official with the General Administration of Customs told Xinhua.
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More than 500 police took part in the raid and they seized 185 shipping containers, as well as more than 200 additional tonnes of products at the site.
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Investigations showed the gangs had smuggled more than 72,000 tonnes of "e-trash" since 2013, the largest quantity ever discovered, which was hidden in over 2,800 containers. The e-trash came from Japan and some European and American countries, said the official.