There are three cases of suspected oil theft alone, and we’re confident in cracking them!
Political Commissioner Wang was very pleased and couldn’t help asking: "Salted Fish, you just mentioned that you’re going to stake out at the anchorage tonight. Your sister said that Xiao Yu is also on surveillance duty. What exactly are you monitoring?"
"Yes, with such tight police resources, I assume you aren’t likely to engage in a battle without assurance." Political Commissioner Jiang agreed, looking at Han Yu with great interest.
Han Yu did not give a direct answer but instead asked, "Political Commissioner, two months ago, did comrades from the Criminal Investigation Team of Jiangcheng Branch visit Binjiang together with a deputy manager from Jiangcheng Port?"
Political Commissioner Jiang thought for a moment, took out a cigarette, and said: "That’s right, they did come to the Port Authority. It seems that several thousand tons of iron ore shipped by barge were missing."
"Several thousand tons of iron ore!"
This was the first time Political Commissioner Wang had heard about it, and he was utterly astonished.
Political Commissioner Jiang explained: "This doesn’t have much to do with our branch; even the Port Authority isn’t really implicated. Thousands of tons, which would tower like a mountain, can’t be stolen without heavy machinery. Cranes are required, as well as trucks or ships for transportation.
But whether trucks want to enter the dock or ships want to enter the port, they must have a pass. It’s entirely conceivable to rule out collusion between dock staff and external parties. After all, this isn’t something one or two people could pull off, and several docks have installed closed-circuit television surveillance."
The loss of several thousand tons of iron ore is shocking.
Regaining his composure, Political Commissioner Wang pressed for answers: "Then how did it disappear?"
"As for how it was lost, I don’t know, but I’m certain the problem did not originate from our Binjiang Port. Ocean liners transport as much as they brought from Australia, and that’s exactly how much the dock shifts to inland river cargo ships. The person in charge of the dock, the cargo owner, and the ship agency are all present during loading and unloading. Each inland river cargo ship has a load line; tens of thousands of tons were calculated very clearly out there, or else we wouldn’t have let the ocean liner that finished unloading leave."
Political Commissioner Jiang stubbed out his cigarette and continued: "Tens of thousands of tons of imported iron ore were transported to Jiangcheng Port. The person in charge of the port and the cargo owner were present on the shore during unloading. If the quantity of iron ore unloaded ashore did not match up, they would not let the carrying inland river cargo ship leave.
The iron ore was unloaded a long time ago, and the cargo owner had already transported it to Jiangcheng Steel Plant, truck by truck. Over ten days had passed, and they claimed that over two thousand tons were missing and insisted Jiangcheng Port compensate for the loss. This is just like withdrawing money from the bank, the money has already been taken out, and even part of it has been spent, turning around and telling the bank the sums don’t match."
The more he heard, the more mysterious the case seemed.
Political Commissioner Wang furrowed his brows and asked, "If every step was problem-free, but in the end it was discovered that over two thousand tons were missing, where did the problem occur?"
"Could there have been an issue during the transportation process on shore?"
"It’s unlikely. This caused quite a stir in Jiangcheng. Last time I called Director Zhang, he said they had investigated the fleets carrying the iron ore. Each truck entering the storage yard is weighed, the amount of iron ore they carry out of the storage yard is also weighed, and they are weighed again upon delivery to the steel plant. The total amount hauled from the docks and the number of trucks that transported it to the steel plant are all recorded."
Political Commissioner Wang exclaimed in surprise: "Then you’re suggesting the problem occurred during the water transportation from Binjiang to Jiangcheng?"
Political Commissioner Jiang stressed: "Old Wang, as I mentioned earlier, the amount loaded from the ocean liners onto the carrying cargo ships at Binjiang Port and the amount offloaded from those cargo ships onto the docks at Jiangcheng Port is accounted for."
"That is truly bizarre. It’s simple arithmetic, so how could over two thousand tons vanish into thin air?"
"The two Political Commissioners, we have contacted our counterparts in the Criminal Investigation Team of Jiangcheng Branch, and we all believe that the problem likely occurred during water transportation."
Compared to the previous few cases, this is the real big one.
Political Commissioner Jiang was stunned and said eagerly: "Salted Fish, be specific!"
"The truth is, the quantity during waterway barge transfer isn’t accounted for, or to say, how much was transferred has its loopholes."
"What kind of loopholes?"
"They didn’t weigh the loads at Binjiang Port when transferring; they just looked at the load lines. When unloading at Jiangcheng Port, they also relied on the load lines, without weighing again."
Political Commissioner Jiang asked in astonishment: "Are there problems with those inland river cargo ships? Did the owners tamper with the load lines?"
Han Yu nodded, speaking at an even pace: "Twenty-six ships were involved in the transfer. If each one embezzled a hundred tons, that’s two thousand six hundred tons."
"But it takes a maximum of thirty hours to transport the iron ore from Binjiang Port to Jiangcheng Port. Those ships aren’t large, and there are only two to three crew members on board each. It wouldn’t be easy for them to embezzle a hundred tons in such a short time. Also, a pile will form inside the cargo hold upon loading, and photographs are taken after loading. If they removed a hundred tons, the pile would visibly change shape, and it would be difficult to restore it to the original state in such a short time."
"That means not only the carrying ship owners and crew were involved, but also others."
Han Yu cleared his throat and added: "We can almost be certain that there’s a gang specifically doing this. They have ships, access to floating cranes, and channels to fence the stolen goods."
This is no small matter.
Political Commissioner Jiang looked intently at Han Yu and asked, "What makes you so sure?"
"The reason Jiangcheng Branch hasn’t cracked the case is mainly for two reasons. The first, as you just mentioned, is because the tonnage calculated based on the load line matched the numbers at the time; no one was suspicious then. It’s too late to find out that something was wrong and investigate after the fact; there’s no proof of death, so to speak."
"And the second reason?"
"The second is the high turnover of ships and crew. After unloading in Jiangcheng, those twenty-some ships went elsewhere to continue hauling cargo, making it difficult to locate them for a while."