Summary of Key Points
This news report exposes a shady profit chain targeting the transportation of cold-chain frozen goods in cities such as Nanyang and Miyang in Henan Province. Drivers on freight platforms specifically target goods with incomplete documentation (commonly referred to as "smuggled or unidentified goods") and deliberately deviate from their routes before collaborating with others to report the incidents, allowing market regulatory authorities to seize the goods. The owners of the goods, fearing legal consequences due to the illegality of the merchandise, are reluctant to claim them, resulting in the goods being sold at a low price as "unclaimed property." Some auction participants collude with the drivers, buying the goods at a discount and then reselling them for a profit, with even some law enforcement officers involved in the conspiracy. A provincial investigation team has been established in Henan, and several individuals have been detained.
Detailed Analysis
1. How They Identify Their Targets
Drivers on freight platforms like "Yunmanman" do not accept orders indiscriminately; instead, they carefully select their targets:
- Focus on three types of frozen goods: imported beef by-products, pork by-products, and chicken feet. If these goods lack the necessary inspection and quarantine documents, they are considered "smuggled or unidentified."
- Consider the origin of the goods: They prefer goods from coastal areas such as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian, as these regions have a higher likelihood of having such illicit goods.
- Obtain additional information outside the platform: Drivers voluntarily request to communicate via WeChat or by exchanging phone numbers, claiming to save on platform fees (although the actual fees have already been deducted). The real purpose is to inspect the goods in person—checking the packaging, labels, and seals for signs of tampering.
Once they confirm that the goods are "smuggled or unidentified," they know there is an opportunity to profit, as the owners are too afraid to challenge the legality of the goods and thus do not pursue their rights.
2. The Art of Deceiving
After loading the goods, drivers use various tactics to deviate from the planned route:
- Disappearing: They click "complete order" but then uninstall the app and turn off their phones, making it impossible for the owners to contact them.
- Direct sale: They take the goods to frozen food markets for retail sale.
- The most aggressive approach: They collude with accomplices to report the shipment as not having undergone inspection and quarantine. Upon receiving the report, the regulatory authorities seize the goods, and the drivers pretend to be innocent, claiming they were just delivering the goods without knowledge of any issues.
3. The Strategy of Making It Impossible to Prove Their Fault
Once the goods are seized, they are labeled as "unclaimed," a situation that arises from the owners' fear of facing legal consequences:
- Reluctance to claim: Owners may face fines or even criminal charges if they try to claim legally illicit goods.
- Inability to claim: Some goods are deemed "unclaimed" due to issues such as excessive microbial contamination, illegal preservatives, or missing documentation (inconsistent invoices and quarantine certificates).
The authorities issue a 30-day notice for claiming the goods; if no one claims them, they are auctioned off.
4. The Profits from Auctions
The prices of the auctioned goods are astonishingly low:
- Example: Normal beef costs 30 yuan per pound, but smuggled beef may only sell for 18 yuan per pound, with auction prices falling below 5 yuan per pound (less than 10,000 yuan per ton), while the actual value of the goods could be as high as 60,000 yuan per ton.
- Collusion for profit: Auction participants and drivers have a prior agreement: the buyers report the goods, and after purchasing them, they pay the drivers several times the cost of transportation (e.g., if the transport fee is 5,000 yuan, the driver gets 20,000 yuan). The buyers then resell the goods as "unidentified" products at a higher price.
- Regulatory loopholes: Some auctioned goods are allowed to enter the market despite lacking quarantine, possibly due to the actions of local regulatory authorities.
5. The Consequences of This Scheme
The impacts of this scheme are far-reaching:
- Heavy losses for owners: Zhang Tian lost all his investment in 18 tons of chicken feet that were auctioned off.
- Disruption of market rules: Drivers no longer earn a living through legitimate transportation but instead rely on these fraudulent practices, undermining market order.
- Erosion of trust in law enforcement: If law enforcement officers are involved in the conspiracy, it undermines public confidence in administrative authorities. Professor Zhao Hong from Peking University Law School stated, "This not only violates property rights but also destroys the basic trust that market participants have in the legal system."
The investigation in Henan is still ongoing, but the issues revealed by this case—abuse of law enforcement power, loopholes in the freight market, and the existence of "unclaimed goods"—are worth serious consideration. For ordinary people, this serves as a reminder that seemingly mutually beneficial private transactions can hide hidden dangers. When power intersects with profit, it is always the ordinary individuals who suffer the most.