Working with shipping containers from all around the world brings up some pretty interesting things. Sometimes, illegal smugglers find their way in these legal ports and can easily ship things around. Some of these can even cause a threat to a nation’s national security.
In this case, guards ended up unearthing a horrific crime that was literally happening right under their noses…
Shenzhen, China
When a bizarre cargo ship docked in Shenzhen overnight, customs officials were immediately confused. Unfortunately, it went unnoticed for so long that it became a threat to China’s national security…
Yantian Port
The Yantian Port is one of the busiest container ports in China. The more it got popular, the long it stayed open. Eventually, the country decided to keep it open 24/7, but that’s brought on some bizarre experiences…
Busier and Busier
Dozens of cargo ships come and go through this port. Obviously, they have seen their handful of weird and bizarre things. But this specific ship would take it a step further…
It’s A Lot Of Work
Working in the shipping container world is not easy. It takes a lot of time and precision to make sure everything moves smoothly. There’s literally no room for error…
Someone Made A Mistake
Even though there’s no room for error, mistakes are still made. In this case, this was a dire mistake on someone end that made world news…
Whose Ship Is This?
The ship snuck its way into port overnight and stayed there for days. Officials had no idea what was going on and still couldn’t find the paperwork. They knew that they had to investigate, but none of them would admit that they were scared for their lives.
No Time Like the Present
The higher-ups were also getting angry at the men on the ground. Why didn’t they notice this thing earlier? Why did it take so long for them to get into the ship? Yeah, it’s a busy place, but this is dangerous…
One Guy’s Mistake
It was all on the shoulders of one worker. He noticed a ship that was docked that was not on the schedule, but didn’t know what to do. So, he let it sit until he couldn’t anymore. He then realized that this was a true threat to national security…
Even The Guards Were Scared
The guards that were in charge of searching the ship were nervous to enter. They had no idea what, or who, was on it…
Was It Abandoned?
They walked into the ship and were immediately hit with a foul stench. They had to cover their noses as they continued to search, but they couldn’t find a soul…
Where Are The Containers?
They knew that they had to find the containers in the ship, or at least confirm that there aren’t any. This place needed to be searched clean before it was too late…
Bring Out The Professionals
Time to bring in the dogs! Obviously, the guards felt like they were going nowhere with this and needed to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. They figured that this was their best bet.
Highly Trained Dogs
These dogs were highly trained and could find anything. Even though they didn’t know what they were looking for, and neither did the guards, they were confident that whatever that smell was would come to light.
Found ‘Em!
They were finally able to find the container that matched the smell on the ship with the help of those brave dogs! There were people that the guards didn’t recognize standing inside the container who tried walking off the second they saw the dog…
They Claim It’s Empty
The men were stopped by the guards and questioned. They said that it was empty and there wasn’t a reason to look inside. Obviously, the guards were still going to look inside…
Coal?
When they initially opened it, it was just bags of coal. That didn’t explain the smell, so they knew that they had to look deeper. It had to have been a cover-up… But, of what?
Calling In Backup
Now that the crate was open, it smelled even worse. It was pungent. They needed to call in quarantine officers as this was obviously something they couldn’t handle themselves.
Worse Than They Anticipated
This was getting too out of hand. “Our preliminary inspection determined they were pangolin scales,” one of the officials said. To their surprise, there were 13.1 tons of pangolin scales
Super Illegal
This was a horrific and illegal scheme that these criminals got caught with. Pangolins are a large, nocturnal animal that have valuable scales all over their body. With the amount of scales that were inside the crate, they suspected that over 30,000 pangolins had to have been killed.
Endangered Animals
Pangolins are one of the most trafficked animals in the world. They’re classified as endangered simply due to the fact that they are poached so often. Officers were worried to find 13.1 TONS of their scales in these bags.
Pangolins
Pangolins are often confused for armadillos, but they’re very different! Although, they do curl up into a little ball as a defense, just like armadillos. Unfortunately, this makes it easy for poachers to simply scoop them up. Why do they want their scales so badly?
It’s For Drugs, Of Course
People in China completely believe that Pangolins scales can be used as a “wonder drug” to cure arthritis, asthma, and even cancer.
Totally Illegal
The meat is also used, which is equally illegal. You can find yourself in prison for 10 years if you’re found guilty of consumption.
Who Did This?
They needed to get to the bottom of this. Who had access to this immense amount of scales? They needed to be stopped…
Narrowing It Down
They needed to work quickly in order to get to the bottom of this. They quickly narrowed down a list of potential suspects and got to work.
Working Quickly
They were able to arrest two men, He and Li. They knew that these were the men that took the ship into port…
On The Run
When they tracked down Li, they realized he was wanted for other crimes. When questioned about the scales, he played dumb (of course). The police knew better…
Caught!
The police were able to secure a warrant to search his phone. That’s when they found the photos of the same scales that they found. Obviously, this guy didn’t do much to cover his tracks and was caught red-handed. Li said it was a secondhand phone.
It Was A Distraction Method
Li knew what he was doing when he told the police. He knew that they were going to investigate his claims, even though they figured he was lying. This was so that he could buy time to plan his escape…
Not So Fast
Turns out, one of the photos in the phone showed someones foot… It was Li’s bare foot, and he had an identifying mole on there. That was all the proof that they needed.
Partners in Crime
Turns out, Li smuggled and shipped the products while He sold them. They were caught up in the scheme.
Huge Bust
Even though they got the two ringleaders, that didn’t mean the fight was over. They needed to figure out if anything else was going on and to put an end to it all.
Far From Over
The fight for Pangolins life is not over. “More needs to be done so we don’t see pangolins go extinct within our lifetime,” stated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Save Them All
People are still working tirelessly to make sure that these animals don’t have to be poaching victims. It’s a hard world out there, but it makes a difference to battle these evil people who want to end animal life just for some money.