In 2025, an incident involving 480 containers of Chinese goods and a case value of up to 700 million euros was seized, shocking the world!
The European Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has launched raids in multiple locations including the Port of Piraeus in Greece, exposing a transnational criminal network centered on smuggling and tax fraud.
The operation, code-named "Calypso", not only seized a large number of Chinese-made textiles, shoes, electric scooters and other goods, but also froze millions of euros in cash and luxury goods.
However, what lies behind this is not only the issue of tax evasion, but also the gray area in the trade chain between China and Europe - underreporting and false classification and other practices persist despite repeated prohibitions.
The "Grey Passage" of the Port of Piraeus
Piraeus Port, as an important port controlled by COSCO Shipping, should have been a golden node for trade between China and Europe, but it has instead become a "cash cow" for criminal gangs.
EPPO's investigation revealed that the gang illegally imported Chinese goods into the EU market at extremely low tariffs and value-added tax (VAT) by forging documents, underreporting the value of goods and even making false categorization.
In the first quarter of 2025, the tax evasion amount for electric bicycles and scooters alone exceeded 250 million euros, while the VAT evasion was as high as 450 million euros.
The Greek Independent Public Revenue Authority (AADE) stated straightforwardly: "Fraud of this scale is simply adding insult to injury!" "
The "unspoken rules" behind the data
This case in 2025 is not an isolated one.
According to the data from the EU customs, in the past three years, approximately 15% of the goods exported from China to the EU have had problems with false declaration. Take electric scooters as an example. The actual value of each one is usually 500 euros, but when criminal gangs declare, they only mark 100 euros, and the price difference directly flows into the black market.
Ironically, these goods eventually circulate through black markets in countries like France and Italy, and consumers don't even know that they are buying "stolen goods". The person in charge of an electric bicycle factory in Wujiang disclosed, "Some of our peers actively cooperate with such operations in order to secure orders, but in the long run, this is like drinking poison to quench thirst."
In the short term, the seizure of 480 containers caused heavy losses to freight forwarders and shippers. A textile exporter in Shaoxing said, "The port detention fee for this batch of goods is estimated to exceed 10,000 euros per day. If it continues to be delayed, we will only go bankrupt."
At present, the European Union is tightening the supervision of trade with China. A logistics company in Ningbo did the math: If the new regulations are implemented, the customs clearance time for each container will be extended by three days, and the freight is expected to increase by 30%.
As early as 2024, well-known domestic groups invested in blockchain traceability systems. The value, category and use of all export goods are recorded on the chain in real time, and the EU customs can directly verify them.
In 2025, their export customs clearance time was reduced by 40%, while the average demurrage rate of the industry rose by 25% during the same period. In contrast, those enterprises that relied on the "grey channel" are now unable to even get their goods back. Ultimately, this 700 million euro tragedy is merely a reckoning of the "unspoken rules" by the market.
It's not a technical issue, nor a financial one, but a matter of rules. The competitiveness of Chinese goods has never been questioned, but the unspoken rule of "underreporting and tax evasion" is destroying this advantage. From the cash seizure in Greece to the property confiscation in Spain, this operation has exposed not only criminal networks but also the trust crisis in China-Eu trade.
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