A Hard Habit to Break.(cigarette smuggling into China)

The lovely crescent-shaped cove in southern Fujian province is almost deserted by day, save for a trio of swimmers frolicking in the waves and an old man hunched over a trove of seashells on the beach. Only when the surf retreats at low tide are there signs of the cove's bustling--and illicit--nocturnal trade: peeking out of the sand are two clusters of pyramid-shaped pylons that locals say have been used by smuggling boats anchoring in the dead of night. For the past several years, the boats have made a nightly rendezvous with container ships out in the Taiwan Strait, bringing back a product that accounts for more than half of all smuggled goods into China: contraband ...