A Gang-related Organization in Guangdong Was Sentenced to Pay More Than 2.9 Billion yuan for Illegal Sand Mining

On August 14, on the occasion of the first national ecological day, the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court held a press conference on the trial of environmental resources to report on the trial of environmental resources in the province from 2018 to the first half of 2023, and issued ten typical cases. One

of the typical cases is the illegal sand mining by gang-related organizations in the Beijiang River, which was awarded compensation for the cost of ecological environment restoration. Since

2000, an underworld-like organization headed by Lin Mouquan has illegally exploited more than 10 million cubic meters of river sand in the Sanshui section of the main stream of the Beijiang River, and committed many criminal offences, seriously undermining the local economic and social order. Illegal mining activities have resulted in serious damage to the ecological environment of rivers and some vegetation, significant changes in river embankments and topography, and serious soil erosion, resulting in damage to the ecological environment of more than 2.96 billion yuan. The Intermediate People's Court of

Foshan City sentenced Lin Mouquan to 24 years and 6 months' imprisonment and confiscation of all his personal property for the crime of organizing and leading an underworld organization and the crime of illegal mining, and ordered him to compensate for the cost of ecological environment restoration and the loss of ecological service function, totaling more than 2.96 billion yuan. Other defendant were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment and jointly and severally liable for the above compensation.

This case is the highest environmental public interest litigation case in the country, which not only cracks down on the illegal and criminal acts of illegal mining by the evil forces, but also promotes the ecological environment protection of the Beijiang River Basin by ordering high compensation.