World Food Day: The Ministry of Public Security Releases Ten Major Cases of Crimes Endangering Food Security

Public security organs are making every effort to ensure the safety of grain production.

The Ministry of Public Security has released ten typical cases of crimes that endanger food production security.

October 16 is World Food Day. To earnestly implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the strategic plans of the CPC Central Committee for safeguarding national food security, public security organs across the country have fully leveraged their functions to crack down on criminal activities that jeopardize food production security—such as the manufacture and sale of counterfeit or substandard agricultural inputs, the illegal occupation of farmland, and environmental pollution—thereby ensuring agricultural production and effectively upholding national food security. Today, the Ministry of Public Security publicly released ten typical cases of crimes targeting food production security.

In recent years, public security organs have attached great importance to investigating and cracking down on crimes that threaten food‑production safety. In 2019, in accordance with the CPC Central Committee’s overall plan for deepening reform of Party and state institutions, the Ministry of Public Security consolidated responsibilities for combating crimes related to food and drugs, intellectual property, the ecological environment, forests and grasslands, biosafety, and counterfeit and substandard goods, establishing the Food and Drug Crime Investigation Bureau. Since then, it has continuously organized public security agencies nationwide to rigorously enforce the law and severely suppress criminal activities that endanger food‑production safety. Particularly since the beginning of this year, during the “Kunlun 2020” special campaign, combating crimes that jeopardize food‑production safety has been given top priority. Under unified deployment, public security organs across the country have worked closely with relevant departments, focused on key areas of enforcement, strengthened coordinated efforts, and reinforced source‑level governance. As a result, they have successfully solved a large number of major cases, apprehended numerous suspects, and achieved significant results. To date, a total of 614 cases involving the production and sale of counterfeit or substandard agricultural inputs have been cracked, leading to the arrest of 910 suspects and uncovering illicit transactions worth 1.1 billion yuan; 1,995 cases of illegal occupation of farmland have been resolved, resulting in the arrest of 2,249 suspects and the recovery of 2,263 hectares of farmland; and 2,437 cases of various environmental pollution offenses have been investigated, with 6,415 suspects arrested and damages totaling 1.2 billion yuan.

An official from the Ministry of Public Security stated that public security organs will thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, vigorously advance the “Kunlun 2020” special campaign, and, with a zero‑tolerance stance, crack down on illegal and criminal activities such as the production and sale of counterfeit and substandard agricultural inputs, the unauthorized occupation of farmland, and environmental pollution, in accordance with the law. At the same time, they will further strengthen coordination and cooperation with departments including agriculture and rural affairs, ecological environment, and natural resources; improve working mechanisms; and ensure smooth channels for information sharing, situation reporting, testing and identification, and case referrals, so as to pool efforts across all fronts and fortify the national food‑security defense.

In June this year, the Public Security Bureau of Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province, cracked a case involving the production and sale of counterfeit corn seeds, arresting 10 suspects and seizing 77,000 kilograms of unmarked bulk corn seeds at the scene. Investigations revealed that the suspects, including Liu, had purchased large quantities of bulk corn seeds from Xinjiang, Liaoning, and other regions, re-sorted and repackaged them, and then sold them as branded corn seeds. Meanwhile, it was also determined that another suspect, Yu, had commissioned a certain agricultural technology company in Xinjiang to cultivate and produce unapproved hybrid corn seeds, which were subsequently marketed under false brand names, with the total value of the case exceeding RMB 11 million.

In May this year, the Public Security Bureau of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, cracked a case involving the production and sale of counterfeit soybean seeds, arresting two suspects. Investigations revealed that the suspects, including Li, manufactured homemade soybean seeds and passed them off as branded varieties, selling them to agricultural input wholesalers and farmers in Liaoning and other provinces. This resulted in widespread yield reductions and substantial economic losses for soybean growers, with the total value of the case exceeding RMB 3 million.

In May this year, the Public Security Bureau of Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, cracked a case involving the production and sale of substandard and counterfeit pesticides, arresting 18 suspects. At the scene, authorities seized over 80,000 packages of illicit herbicides, 63,000 pieces of trademarked packaging materials, and substantial quantities of raw materials used in production. Investigations revealed that the suspects, including Liu Moumou, operated without the requisite licenses for pesticide manufacturing. They adulterated products by adding the covert active ingredient “prometryn,” thereby falsely representing more than 80 types of substandard herbicides as legitimate branded products for sale, with the total value of the case exceeding RMB 76 million.

In September this year, the Zhong County Public Security Bureau in Chongqing successfully cracked a case involving the production and sale of substandard fertilizers, arresting seven suspects and seizing over 100 tons of counterfeit fertilizer. Investigations revealed that Xie, the person in charge of a fertilizer company in Guang’an City, Sichuan, knowingly purchased chemical waste at low prices—despite being aware of the state‑mandated production standards—and used it as raw material for potash fertilizer. The company produced more than 3,000 tons of non‑compliant compound fertilizer, which was sold to Sichuan, Chongqing, and other regions, resulting in yield losses on 8,805 mu of rice paddies belonging to 2,514 farming households, with total damages exceeding RMB 25 million.

In June this year, the Public Security Bureau of Datong City, Shanxi Province, cracked a case of illegal occupation of agricultural land and apprehended two suspects. The investigation revealed that Qu Moumou and Chen Moumou, under the guise of farming and animal husbandry, exchanged or leased 50 mu of cultivated land from local villagers. They then erected walls to enclose the farmland and engaged in unauthorized sand extraction and iron‑powder processing, resulting in severe damage to approximately 10 mu of basic farmland, rendering it unfit for cultivation.

In August this year, the Public Security Bureau of Liyang City, Jiangsu Province, cracked a case of illegal occupation of agricultural land, arresting three suspects and implicating more than 50 mu of cultivated land. Investigations revealed that the suspects, including Zheng Moumou, had contracted agricultural land under the guise of crab farming and, without obtaining approval from the natural resources authorities, illegally mined clay for cement production and sold it for profit, thereby severely damaging the arable conditions of part of the farmland.

In June this year, the Public Security Bureau of Yicheng City, Hubei Province, cracked a case of illegal occupation of agricultural land. The investigation revealed that a phosphorus‑product manufacturing enterprise, without obtaining approval from the relevant authorities, entered into private agreements with some local villagers to occupy more than 30 mu of agricultural land south of its factory premises, where it piled up industrial waste residues, thereby severely damaging the land’s suitability for cultivation.

In December last year, the Public Security Bureau of Xingping City, Shaanxi Province, cracked a case of illegal occupation of agricultural land, involving 115 mu of cultivated land. The investigation revealed that Li, the former secretary of the Party branch in Mafang Village, Tianfu Township, had forcibly expropriated more than 160 mu of farmland from villagers under the pretext of village‑level construction. He then destroyed the fields to extract sand and leased portions of the land to others for the development of ecological parks, tree planting, sand storage, and the construction of chicken farms, thereby compromising the arable conditions of over 110 mu of farmland.

In March this year, the Zhenlai County Public Security Bureau in Jilin Province cracked a series of black soil theft cases, arresting 17 suspects. Investigations revealed that suspects Li, Wu, and others had repeatedly excavated black soil from a wetland and surrounding farmland in Datun Town, selling it on the open market. In total, they illegally removed more than 2,000 cubic meters of black soil, with the value of the stolen goods amounting to RMB 150,000.

Last August, the Public Security Bureau of Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, cracked a case of environmental pollution, arresting six suspects and seizing over 500 tons of hazardous waste—waste acid. Investigations revealed that the suspects, including Wang Moumou, had been illegally conducting steel pickling and unlawfully dumping more than 300 tons of waste acid into nearby farmland, forestland, and waterways, severely contaminating water bodies and soil. As a result, 10 mu of cultivated land suffered total crop failure, over 10 mu of farmland could not be reclaimed, and rice cultivation on more than 2,000 mu was seriously affected.

Source: Website of the Ministry of Public Security