Zhoushan, Zhejiang： Digging deep and thoroughly, successfully prosecuting the ＂dock owner＂ of refined oil smuggling.

Who is "Sigh" behind the scenes?

Zhoushan, Zhejiang: Digging deep and thoroughly, successfully prosecuting the "dock owner" of refined oil smuggling.

In the handling of an extraordinarily large refined oil smuggling case, several suspects mentioned a dock owner named "Sigh" together, but "Sigh" did not appear among the investigated objects. The prosecutor was keenly aware that it might be a "fish that slipped through the net", promptly supervised the case, dug deep into the clues of the case, and successfully prosecuted the dock owner Cai, who was hidden behind the scenes, through self-supplementary investigation and locking up the evidence chain.

"In the face of the difficulties in handling cases, we must have the’ artisan spirit’, do not let go of any doubts, conduct a penetrating review, and ensure that the facts of the case are clear and the evidence is true and sufficient, so as to accurately identify the facts of the crime and run every case with high quality and efficiency." On March 12, the procurator of Zhoushan City Procuratorate in Zhejiang Province, who handled the case, said to his colleagues when summing up the experience in handling the case.

The prosecutor handling the case analyzed and discussed the identity information of "Sigh" and "Manager Cai".

Wharf involved in the case

late night

Smugglers Disappeared in "Wild Pier"

Late at night on December 11, 2020, in the sea area near Xiangshan County, a ship carrying a large amount of smuggled refined oil slowly approached the wild wharf near a small fishing village, washed the beach to unload the oil to the oil depot beside the wharf, and then quietly disappeared into the night.

The owner of the smuggled oil on the shore is hiding in the dark, and a group of "younger brothers" are remotely controlled by the phone to organize tanker trucks to transfer oil products and prepare for the next distribution. At this time, the public security police in Xiangshan County, which received the call from the masses, rushed to the scene. After a riot, the police seized five tankers and some oil products, and arrested a Yang who claimed to be the head of an oil company. Because the smuggled oil tanker was not seized at the scene, the public security organs could only impose corresponding administrative penalties on Yang for illegally storing dangerous substances.

In March, 2021, Zhoushan Customs Anti-smuggling Branch cracked a large smuggling case of refined oil. The suspect Wang and others repeatedly used the self-purchased oil tanker to smuggle refined oil to Ningbo for profit. With the arrest of this criminal gang smuggling refined oil products at sea, the mysterious ship that disappeared in the fishing village wild dock a few months ago gradually surfaced.

In September of the same year, Zhoushan Customs Anti-smuggling Branch transferred the cases of smuggling ordinary goods such as Wang, Zhou and Zhang to Zhoushan Procuratorate for review and prosecution. In January 2022, Zhoushan City Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Wang and others for the crime of smuggling ordinary goods to Zhoushan Intermediate People’s Court. In April of the same year, after trial, the court sentenced the defendant Wang to 11 years and 6 months in prison and fined him 8 million yuan; The defendant Zhang was sentenced to four years in prison and fined 300,000 yuan; Zhou was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for four years and fined 50 thousand yuan.

"On December 11, 2020, at Xiangshan beach, the owner was’ Sigh’, and we also paid the dock use fee to him every time we unloaded the oil." When examining the case file and interrogating the suspect, the prosecutor found that Wang, Zhou and others all mentioned a dock owner named "Sigh", but this person did not appear in the list of suspects, and the prosecutor keenly smelled something unusual.

In addition, in the administrative case of "Yang suspected of illegally storing dangerous substances" attached to the case, the prosecutor found that although Yang claimed to be the owner of the oil company, he could not tell the registered address of the company, and he talked frequently with a phone number whose owner was "Manager Cai" on the night of being arrested.

Whether it is the confession of the smuggling suspect Wang and others or Yang’s abnormal performance, they all point the clues to the boss behind the scenes, "Sigh". Who is "Sigh"? Who is "Manager Cai"? What role did they play in this smuggling case? There seems to be another person hiding behind the smuggling gang that seems to have been wiped out.

Dig deep and thoroughly

Find out the behind-the-scenes dock owner

On November 2, 2021, the prosecutor returned the case of smuggling ordinary goods by Wang and others to supplementary investigation, and guided the investigation organ to trace the identity of "Sigh" according to Yang’s confession and the owner information of "Manager Cai" who contacted him on the phone that night. After the investigation, the investigation organ verified that the owner information of this number was an auto parts company in Zhejiang.

At the same time, the prosecutor handling the case began to supplement the investigation on his own according to the existing evidence materials. Through the big data comparison collision, it was found that the actual operator of an auto parts company in Zhejiang was Cai, and he served as the supervisor of the oil company mentioned by Yang. The serial connection of a series of information further verified the prosecutor’s analysis and judgment: this Cai is probably "Sigh".

Subsequently, the prosecutor in charge of the case obtained the identity information and photos of Cai from the national population information inquiry platform through the mechanism of investigation, supervision and cooperation, and finally identified Cai as the "Sigh" in this case through the identification of accomplices Wang and Zhou.

On February 10, 2022, Zhoushan City Procuratorate issued the Notice of Request for Explaining the Reasons for Not Filing a Case to the investigation organ. On the 17th of the same month, the investigation organ decided to criminally detain the suspect Cai. Soon, Cai was arrested and brought to justice

Lock the chain of evidence

"Zero confession" can’t escape the law.

On January 31, 2023, Zhoushan Customs Anti-smuggling Branch transferred the suspect Cai to review and prosecute on suspicion of smuggling ordinary goods.

"The dock belongs to the village. We have never used it. The oil depot on the dock is rented by the company, and the oil stored is also purchased through formal channels." After Cai arrived at the case, he always made a "zero confession" and refused to admit that he was involved in smuggling crimes.

After preliminary examination, the prosecutor found that Cai was not the object of investigation in the smuggling case of Wang and others, and the evidence in the original case was only the sporadic confession of the accomplice about "Sigh". From the objective evidence, the suspects have a strong anti-investigation consciousness, and all use cash and "black card" transactions that can be thrown at once. It is difficult to establish an objective connection between Cai and Wang’s smuggling gang through bank running water or call records.

The "zero confession" of the criminal suspect, coupled with the weak evidence on file, has brought great difficulty to the handling of the case.

In order to further clarify the case and consolidate the evidence chain, the prosecutor handling the case once again comprehensively sorted out the smuggling cases of Wang and others. By classifying, analyzing and judging the confessions and witness testimony of Wang and others, the prosecutor handling the case listed a detailed supplementary investigation outline from the aspects of finding out the ownership of the dock, verifying the actual operator of the oil company and the source components of the oil products, and guided the investigation organs to carry out comprehensive supplementary investigations and reinforce the evidence.

Through further investigation, the investigation organ verified that Cai was not only the actual operator of the oil company, but also obtained the actual right to use the terminal by renting the oil depot near the terminal. In particular, by comparing the oil products seized in Wang’s smuggling case, the oil products seized in the tanker on the night of rushing to the beach, and the three oil sample test reports of the oil products provided by the oil supplier of Cai’s oil company, the prosecutor confirmed that the oil products seized on the night of rushing to the beach were consistent with the smuggled oil seized in Wang’s case, which made Cai’s argument that the oil products sold were legal sources self-defeating. In the face of hard evidence, Cai can only bow his head and acquiesce in his smuggling behavior.

The procuratorial organ finally found out that from September to December, 2020, the criminal suspect Cai participated in the smuggling of fuel oil eight times by providing unloading docks for cargo owners and directly purchasing smuggled oil, and the amount of tax evasion reached 3.28 million yuan.

In June 2023, Zhoushan City Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Cai for the crime of smuggling ordinary goods to Zhoushan Intermediate People’s Court. After trial, the court adopted the accusation of the procuratorate and found that Cai violated customs regulations, evaded customs supervision, and smuggled fuel oil into the country with others for profit. The tax payable was particularly huge, which was a joint crime. According to the law, Cai was sentenced to seven years in prison for smuggling ordinary goods and fined 600,000 yuan. Cai refused to accept the judgment and appealed. Not long ago, the Zhejiang Provincial High Court made a final judgment: dismissed the appeal and upheld the original judgment. Now Cai has been put in prison.

(Reporter Fan Yuehong   Correspondent Chen Hongna)