Customs officers at city airport become suspicious after material labeled as dolomite arrives by air when the usual method of transporting the mineral is by sea.

Ti Gong

Customs at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport have seized more than 800 kilograms of meteorites from goods imported from Africa. They had been falsely declared as dolomite — a white mineral often used in the manufacture of cement and as a building material, Shanghai Customs said on Tuesday.

Meteorites are believed by some people to be able to bring stability to home and family, exorcise demons, bring wealth, good luck and even lengthen lives. They are also popular with collectors and scientific researchers, customs said.

False declaration can help importers evade tax.

Customs officers said two batches of "dolomite" arrived from Kenya last month. Officers found that off because dolomite usually came by sea as ocean shipping was much cheaper.

After opening the boxes, the minerals inside were found to be magnetic. The density of the "dolomite" was very similar to that of meteorites found in large quantities in Kenya in 2016 and most of these meteorites contained iron.



When they contacted the owner of the goods it was confirmed that they were meteorites. The meteorites are now under temporary seizure and waiting for further disposal.

Earlier this year, local customs officers seized several batches of meteorites from overseas which were falsely declared as other things. In July, officers at Pudong airport seized 57 slices of meteorites from countries including Russia, Sweden, Kenya and Chile, weighing 3.86 kilograms.

Ti Gong

Ti Gong