Smuggling of contraband goods in China has risen sharply, a senior anti-smuggling official says.

Up to September, customs officials had uncovered 549 smuggling cases involving prohibited items, including drugs, endangered animals and plants, weapons and ammunition, as well as solid waste.

They accounted for 39 percent of all smuggling cases, an increase of 160 percent compared with 10 years ago, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs.

"Lowered domestic tariffs, reduced entry-and-exit trade controls, and huge market price differences are to blame for the rampant smuggling of forbidden articles," Chen Jianxin, deputy director of the anti-smuggling bureau under the administration, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

In the early of 2000s, most smuggled goods seized were tax-related items, including cars, refined oil, tobacco and electronic products.

Chen said: "Drugs, firearms and ammunition, and solid waste have a serious impact on national security, social stability and ecology. We will remain on high alert, and strictly crack down on smugglers."

Most of the prohibited items were found in goods coming from the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and some African countries, Chen said.

He added that the cases that have been detected show that domestic smugglers have colluded with overseas counterparts, and that their smuggling activities are premeditated, intelligent, professional and involve networking.

In June, Chinese police and their US counterparts uncovered a major international case involving the smuggling of weapons and ammunition, arresting 23 suspects in China and three in the US. The police also confiscated 93 guns, 50,000 bullets and gun parts.

In August, customs officers at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport intercepted firearms and accessories from an express mail cargo declared as loudspeakers imported from the US.

To cope with rampant smuggling of hazardous materials, Chinese authorities set up a comprehensive anti-smuggling international law enforcement mechanism, Chen said, and are cooperating with other countries in obtaining evidence, sharing intelligence, and assisting in case investigation.

In August, this led to the arrest of Wang Ting, suspected of being involved in illegally storing firearms and ammunition, and smuggling and trafficking them.

Wang got to know Lin Jiafu, a Chinese-American, through the Internet in January and the pair quickly formed a gang to engage in illegal activities, anti-smuggling police say.

Lin has been arrested and brought to China but has not been charged.

Police say Lin was responsible for the supply of guns and customs clearance in the US, and for sending the prohibited goods to middlemen in China, including Wang. They then sold them to clients across the country, netting huge profits.

All the transactions were made through the Internet, and all the information used by the suspects, including IDs and addresses, was fabricated, police say.

Chinese police quickly exchanged information with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and proposed a joint investigation, culminating in police cracking the international criminal group.

To date, China has signed 98 cooperation agreements and plans of action with 70 countries and regions, including the US and some European countries. It has also joined eight international customs conventions organized by World Customs Organization, Chen said.

He also said China will set up annual meetings with the major partners, and will regularly hold law enforcement liaison officer meetings with relevant countries.

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