Four people have gone on trial in Shenzhen for smuggling more than 100,000 kg of silver from Hong Kong into the Chinese mainland and evading nearly 55 million yuan in taxes (about 8 million U.S. dollars), a court source said on Monday.

Guo Bailiang and Huang Zhiqiang, both Hong Kong long-haul drivers, were accused of transporting the silver, hidden in secret compartments of container trucks, to an auto repair garage in Shenzhen in the southern Guangdong Province.

Hu Yunpeng, owner of the garage, and a man named Wu Peijia who distributed the silver in the mainland, were also arrested, according to the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court source.

The scam, which started in November 2006, was uncovered eight months later when Guo was caught by Shenzhen custom officers while trying to transport 32 silver blocks weighing nearly 500 kg.

(Xinhua News Agency October 6, 2008)