Fuzhou customs officers broke up a smuggling ring that brought cannabis into China by international mail, seizing 4.5128 kg and destroying 332 plants at three indoor grow sites.[1] All four suspects were arrested.[1] They came from Changle, Ningde and Fuqing.[2] On 30 March 2015 the customs anti-smuggling bureau transferred the case to prosecutors for review and prosecution.[3] The plants were grown in three rented flats in the Fenghu Xincheng and Xiaoliu Xincun housing estates in Fuzhou.[2] The flats were fitted with ventilation ducts, ultraviolet lamps, air conditioning and fluorescent lights.[1] Some plants had grown over 1.7 metres and flowered.[1] The windows were boarded up to hide the operation.[1] Customs officers said the plants were a new American strain with THC content up to 20 per cent, against 5 per cent in traditional varieties.[1]
On 18 and 19 November 2014, officers at the customs post office X-rayed international mail and found five parcels with abnormal images.[2] Each parcel held four packages disguised as food; the parcels weighed 4.937 kg gross and 4.5128 kg net, and tested positive for THC, cannabidiol and cannabinol.[2] A man from Changle surnamed Jiang had agreed with a contact in the United States known as “Brother Long” to send five parcels from California in two batches to four false recipients.[2] Jiang asked his sister and two friends, surnamed Huang and Tian, to collect them while he went to Hong Kong.[2]
Officers watched a housing estate near the delivery address for a day and a night and arrested Tian when he kept circling the mail room without collecting the parcels.[2] A bunch of keys on him led them to the Fenghu Xincheng grow site.[2] It was the first indoor cannabis cultivation case Fuzhou customs had handled.[1]