Barranquilla: the "shoe smuggling czar" fell and was released
The issue gained relevance in the press media and in the Colombian government, where President Iván Duque himself highlighted the action, adding that "the man had been in illegal activity for 12 years."
This is the Taiwanese citizen Tu Ming Chuan who was detained in Barranquilla by the Customs Fiscal Police -Polfa-, in coordination with the DIAN -Directorate of National Taxes and Customs- and the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation. The accusation was for the crime of favoring and facilitating smuggling.
In the operation, DIAN seized a shipment of footwear valued at 12 billion Colombian pesos –3.2 million dollars-, made up of 265 thousand pairs stored in warehouses.
The merchandise was collected in Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla, from where it was distributed to different areas of the country.
According to the investigations, Tu Ming Chuan resided in Colombia since 2003 and his activities were carried out through six fictitious companies that bought in the Asian continent and illegally introduced the products into Colombia.
Since 2015, the captured individual made 1,240 imports through the aforementioned companies for figures several times millionaire.
According to the latest news published by the portal De Frente, from the Santa Marta area, a few days after the arrest of the accused -August 9-, as a result of the complaint presented by the official entities, the Barranquilla court denied the request for a measure to ensure the deprivation of liberty. For this reason, he ordered the release of the captured person, with an act of commitment to appear before the competent authorities when they deem it necessary.
The decision was appealed by the official legal representatives.
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