KUNMING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province detained four suspects and seized over 170 tonnes of illegally transported tobacco worth over 6 million yuan (about 854,896 U.S. dollars) in seven cases, local authorities said Wednesday.
On Nov. 2, police in Qiubei County in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture seized a suspicious truck at a toll gate along the Guangzhou-Kunming Highway, seizing 420 bags of flue-cured tobacco weighing over 20 tonnes.
The police then found a warehouse suspected of illegal tobacco trade in the city of Wenshan. Further investigation into the case is underway.
Yunnan is one of the major tobacco production areas in China.
Private trading and transportation of tobacco is prohibited in China. Anyone who sells tobacco without permission shall be subject to criminal punishment in accordance with China's law.
