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China's Yunnan Province is cracking down against "hog speculators," whose illegal transportation has been blamed for fueling the spread of swine fever and disrupting the market.
Seizures of over 10,000 illegally transported pigs have been reported since hog transportation was suspended amid the swine fever epidemic in September.
Inspections on major highways and trans-provincial roads have been enhanced to crack down on illegal transportation by profiteers.
Hog speculators, who purchase cheaper pigs from Yunnan and sell them at higher prices in other provinces, have seized headlines by cramming pigs into passenger cars to dodge inspections. Their tactic is to spread rumors of ASF outbreaks to manipulate purchase prices.
Traffic police in the Sichuan Province, which neighbors Yunnan, recently intercepted a van carrying 24 pigs from Yunnan.
Officials and industry insiders said speculators could earn as much as 2,000 yuan (285 U.S. dollars) from one pig by capitalizing on the low hog prices in Yunnan.
Several Chinese provinces suspended the trans-provincial transportation of hogs, blamed for over 60 percent of the disease outbreaks, while encouraging pork transportation as a replacement.
December 24, 2020 /Xinhuanet/ China.
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