Gongbei’s Customs Administration said in a statement yesterday that a local woman driving a private vehicle was stopped by its officers at the Macau-Hengqin checkpoint in Cotai on Sunday and found to have attempted to smuggle 50 bottles of Maotai.
According to the statement, the driver surnamed Ieong was stopped by the customs officers at 7 p.m. on Sunday when she was driving her Macau-registered vehicle with a single licence plate permit en route to Hengqin Island.
The statement said that the bottles of Maotai were found in multiple handbags, which were on the car’s front and rear passenger seats and in the boot.
The case has been handed over to relevant entities to handle the follow-up work, according to the statement.
The statement underlined that in accordance with Zhuhai’s regulation of Macau vehicles entering and leaving Hengqin, apart from being punished according to the law, those who use Macau vehicles for smuggling will also be restricted as to when the vehicle can enter the mainland’s side of the island again.
Maotai (茅台) or Moutai is a style of baijiu (“white liquor”), a distilled Chinese liquor (spirit), made in the town of Maotai in Guizhou province. Produced by the state-owned Kweichow Moutai Company, it is distilled from fermented sorghum and comes in several different varieties. It is China’s most famous and expensive liquor.
This undated handout photo provided by the Gongbei’s Customs Administration yesterday shows the attempted contraband of 50 bottles of Maotai.
