Sudden!The country's overseas warehouse in Europe was inspected, and Chinese goods worth tens of
- Author:weiyun.com
- Source:weiyun.com
- Release Date:2026-01-24
On January 21, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) reported that the Italian financial police uncovered a large-scale transnational textile smuggling case when they raided a warehouse controlled by four Chinese in the textile town of Prato.A total of more than 7.8 million meters of textile fabrics and 237,000 pieces of ready-made garments illegally imported from China were seized in the case. The value of the goods involved was as high as 10 million euros (approximately RMB 82 million), and nearly 3.6 million euros were suspected of evading customs duties and import value-added tax (VAT).
The gang involved registered multiple "switch companies" in Germany, Poland and Prato, Italy. They had no actual business activities and were only used to forge trade contracts, falsely lease warehouses and transfer funds. They also circumvented supervision by regularly changing company names and canceling old entities.After the goods depart from China, the gang will tamper with the shipping documents, fabricate the intra-EU trade process of "transiting through Polish/German companies", and then use false invoices to "legalize" the smuggled goods, so that the goods can enter the Italian market without paying import taxes.
At the same time, they store the goods in hidden warehouses controlled by Chinese and strictly control the import business volume below the regulatory alert threshold, further reducing the risk of being investigated and punished.
It is reported that the case has been under investigation for more than a year.
At the end of October last year, law enforcement authorities had already identified clues and launched raids on multiple properties and entities in Prato. They seized 2.3 million meters of textile fabrics, a large number of electronic equipment and false transaction documents on the spot. It was confirmed that approximately 1.3 million euros in tariffs had been evaded at that time.
However, the gang involved in the case did not stop. Instead, it quickly "changed the shell" of the warehouse and re-registered it under the name of a new shell company to continue committing crimes.
It was not until January this year that the police captured key clues to the secret transshipment of suspicious goods through night tracking and surveillance, and followed the clues to locate four other hidden warehouses and a private residence, completely revealing the true face of this transnational smuggling network.
At present, the suspect has been charged with multiple crimes such as aggravated smuggling, major tax fraud, and false property registration. The case also involves the use of false invoices exceeding 4 million euros, self-laundering approximately 2.7 million euros, and fraudulent transfer of assets exceeding 10 million euros. The case is still under further investigation.
However, according to Italian law, those involved are presumed innocent until final conviction in court.
Here is a warm reminder that friends involved in import and export trade need to carefully check the qualifications of partners, stay away from the trap of shell companies, and keep complete vouchers for the entire import and export process of goods, so that the source of purchase can be traced and the destination of shipment can be verified.
The gang involved registered multiple "switch companies" in Germany, Poland and Prato, Italy. They had no actual business activities and were only used to forge trade contracts, falsely lease warehouses and transfer funds. They also circumvented supervision by regularly changing company names and canceling old entities.After the goods depart from China, the gang will tamper with the shipping documents, fabricate the intra-EU trade process of "transiting through Polish/German companies", and then use false invoices to "legalize" the smuggled goods, so that the goods can enter the Italian market without paying import taxes.
At the same time, they store the goods in hidden warehouses controlled by Chinese and strictly control the import business volume below the regulatory alert threshold, further reducing the risk of being investigated and punished.
It is reported that the case has been under investigation for more than a year.
At the end of October last year, law enforcement authorities had already identified clues and launched raids on multiple properties and entities in Prato. They seized 2.3 million meters of textile fabrics, a large number of electronic equipment and false transaction documents on the spot. It was confirmed that approximately 1.3 million euros in tariffs had been evaded at that time.
However, the gang involved in the case did not stop. Instead, it quickly "changed the shell" of the warehouse and re-registered it under the name of a new shell company to continue committing crimes.
It was not until January this year that the police captured key clues to the secret transshipment of suspicious goods through night tracking and surveillance, and followed the clues to locate four other hidden warehouses and a private residence, completely revealing the true face of this transnational smuggling network.
At present, the suspect has been charged with multiple crimes such as aggravated smuggling, major tax fraud, and false property registration. The case also involves the use of false invoices exceeding 4 million euros, self-laundering approximately 2.7 million euros, and fraudulent transfer of assets exceeding 10 million euros. The case is still under further investigation.
However, according to Italian law, those involved are presumed innocent until final conviction in court.
Here is a warm reminder that friends involved in import and export trade need to carefully check the qualifications of partners, stay away from the trap of shell companies, and keep complete vouchers for the entire import and export process of goods, so that the source of purchase can be traced and the destination of shipment can be verified.