Detain 40 people, detain and freeze more than 16.3 million yuan, severely punish those who steal river sand in Chaozhou, Guangdong

Sand and gravel are essential materials for engineering construction, from which some lawless elements see "business opportunities", using stolen methods to excavate river sand, destroying the ecological environment of the river, and sometimes even causing major security risks such as soil landslides and land subsidence. In this regard, the relevant departments of the state have been taking a high-pressure and strict management situation to crack down severely. In March

2021, the Anti-Gang Office of the Public Security Bureau of Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, grasped two legally operated sand piling sites in the Chifeng Hanxi and Guihu Green Bamboo areas of Chaoan District on the banks of the Hanjiang River, suspected of secretly engaging in illegal and criminal activities of illegal river sand mining. The leaders of Chaozhou Public Security Bureau attached great importance to the serious cases, immediately started the handling mechanism of major cases, mobilized capable police forces to form special teams, and made every effort to carry out the investigation of cases.

It is reported that the police have cracked down on three illegal mining criminal gangs, detained 40 people, seized 53 bank cards and 68 mobile phones, seized a batch of stolen river sand mining tools such as forklifts, sand trucks, sand carriers and sand pumping boats, involving a total of more than 50000 tons of river sand, seized and frozen assets amounting to more than 16.3 million yuan, and seized and seized more than 16.3 million yuan. Effectively crack down on and deter the arrogance of the evil forces of "sand tyrants" and "mine tyrants".

, in order to ensure that the illegal mining gangs were uprooted, the special task force held several research and judgment meetings to thoroughly discuss the case, analyze the structure of the gangs, and further formulate investigation measures.". At the same time, with the strong assistance of the relevant departments of Chaozhou Public Security Bureau, we found out the organizational structure and business model of the criminal gang, collected fixed criminal evidence, and found out the whereabouts and specific foothold of each gang member. On the morning of July 30,

2021, when the time was ripe to collect the net, more than 230 capable police forces were divided into 25 arrest teams to collect the net accurately.

After continuous struggle, the special task force captured 37 people involved in the case, including Li Mouzhi, Zhang Mouwei, Chen Moubin and Yang Moudian, seized 53 bank cards and 68 mobile phones, seized a batch of stolen river sand mining tools such as sand trucks and sand carriers, and seized and frozen more than 8.5 million yuan. After a large number of peripheral investigations, the special task force successfully seized more than cubic meters of river sand 24000 in Chaoan Guihu and Guxiang, and gradually found out the basic situation of illegal mining criminal gangs with Wu Mouxian and others as the main members.

In addition, according to the statement of the defendant Li Moubin, he and his nephew Li Mouxin drove the boat together. Li Mouxin was responsible for standing at the bow of the boat. He was responsible for driving the boat and began to carry river sand to the Green Bamboo Sand Field in Guihu Town.". Li Mouzhi explained that every time he went to the mining area to load the river sand and got the certificate of the legal source of the river sand, he immediately carried the loaded river sand from the mining area to the green bamboo sand field to unload it, and then left the certificate of the legal source of the river sand on the boat. They went to the Hanjiang River section in front of Tutou Village in Chifeng Town to load one more boat of stolen river sand, and waited until the next day to unload it at the green bamboo sand field. Without a certificate of the legal source of river sand, he carried an extra boat of stolen river sand, which was left on the boat for inspection. Some of the river sand he carried was from Fengshun mining area, and some was stolen from Hanjiang River in front of Tutou Village, Chifeng Town.

, Li Mouzhi and Wu Mouxian, as the principal offenders, jointly participated in the illegal mining of river sand for a total of 37406. The defendant Wu Mouxian confessed that during the operation of the green bamboo sand field, The Maritime Safety Administration and the town government regularly inspect the green bamboo sand yard according to the procedures, check their quadruplicate list, entrance and exit account, on-site sanitation and the operation of the sand yard. They made accounts in advance to deal with government inspection, and did not put the amount of stolen river sand into the accounts. The

special task force also successfully captured three fugitive criminal suspect of the gang, Lin Mouqi, Li Moujiang and Li Mouquan, and another criminal suspect, Li Mouqiang, voluntarily surrendered to Chaoan Branch.

In order to thoroughly eradicate the problem of illegal sand mining in the Hanjiang River Basin, the special task force conducted a thorough investigation, focusing on the characteristics of the crime of illegal sand mining, focusing on the six key elements of "people, ships, sand, certificates, cases and money" and the four important links of "mining, stacking, transportation and marketing", to investigate and collect evidence on the problem of illegal mining, and to find out the criminal Wang Mouhao. Lin Shuhuan, a second-level judge

of Chaozhou Intermediate People's Court, said that Wang Mouhao, a defendant, knew that there was an illegal act of stealing Hanjiang River sand from the green bamboo sand yard and selling it to the outside world, but he still made illegal profits. From March 2021 to July 2021, he purchased a total of 32 cubic meters of river sand from the green bamboo sand yard for many times. 26434. Among them, the total amount of river sand illegally mined by the defendant Li Mouzhi and his gang was 3896.

criminals secretly mined and sold river sand by means of grafting, but no matter how deep they hid it, they could not find it." Also can not escape the eyes of the police, eventually, they were captured by the police one by one, will also pay the price for their illegal and criminal acts. On June 2,

2022, the People's Procuratorate of Chaoan District charged 14 people, including Li Mouzhi, with the crime of illegal mining, and Wang Mouhao, with the crime of concealing the proceeds of crime, brought a public prosecution to the People's Court of Chaoan District. The People's Court of Chaoan District made a first-instance judgment on October 11, 2022. After the sentence was pronounced, Li Mouzhi and Wang Mouhao refused to accept it and appealed to the Municipal Intermediate Court. After filing the case, the Municipal Intermediate Court formed a collegial panel according to law, after reviewing the papers, interrogating the appellant and the defendant of the original trial, listening to the opinions of the defender, considered that the facts of the case were clear, and decided not to hold a hearing.

Li Mouzhi, Wu Mouxian and other defendant jointly participated in the illegal mining of river sand with a total 37406 of 69 cubic meters, and the value of mineral products was 6375609.

Lin Shuhuan, a second-level judge of Chaozhou Intermediate People's Court, said that 13 defendant, including Li Mouzhi and Wu Mouxian, violated the regulations of the Mineral Resources Law. Unauthorized mining in partnership without a mining license is particularly serious, and their actions constitute the crime of illegal mining and should be punished according to law. Huang Mousheng, the defendant, violated the provisions of the Mineral Resources Law and engaged in mining without obtaining a mining license. The circumstances were serious, and his behavior constituted the crime of illegal mining and should be punished according to law.

According to Article 343 of the Criminal Law, in violation of the provisions of the Mineral Resources Law, mining without obtaining a mining license, mining without authorization into the state-planned mining areas, mining areas of great value to the national economy and mining areas of other peo ple, or mining without authorization specific minerals for which protective mining is prescribed by the State, the circumstances are serious. Shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined. Fourteen people, including Li Mouzhi, a

defendant, were convicted of illegal mining and sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from three years, nine months to ten months, with fines, and were also sentenced to recover the corresponding illegal income, confiscate the related property and turn it over to the state treasury.

In addition, the defendant Wang Mouhao was previously sentenced to nine months'imprisonment and a fine of RMB 8000 for the crime of illegal mining on December 24, 2018.After he was released from prison, he did not repent, knowing that there was illegal mining of Hanjiang River sand in the green bamboo sand yard and selling it to the outside world, he still made illegal profits. From March 2021 to July 2021, he purchased river sand from the green bamboo sand yard for many times, totaling 32 cubic meters 26434. The

defendant Wang Mouhao, knowing that the operators of the green bamboo sand yard had carried out illegal mining activities, still purchased the stolen river sand for illegal profits. The circumstances were serious and the social management order was impaired. His behavior constituted the crime of concealing the proceeds of crime and was sentenced to three years and six months in prison according to law. A fine shall be imposed, and the relevant property shall be confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.

The case was adjudicated on December 8, 2022, which is the final judgment. At present, the sentence has come into effect, and all the criminals have been imprisoned. Lin Shuhuan, a second-level judge

of Chaozhou Intermediate People's Court, said that illegal sand mining not only destroys the mineral resources and ecological environment of the Hanjiang River, but also affects the stability of the water potential, flood control and navigation safety of the Hanjiang River, which is a serious illegal and criminal act. Once found, all functional departments will crack down severely with a "zero tolerance" attitude. The courts at the municipal level will also continue to implement Xi Jinping's thought of rule of law and ecological civilization, adhere to performing their duties according to law, strengthen cooperation and cooperation, punish the crime of illegal mining of mineral resources according to law, protect the green mountains and rivers of Chaozhou, and escort the construction of ecological civilization in Chaozhou.