Products worth over £26 million in total despite being contaminated

Some of crabs, lobsters and fish thought to be

Thousands of tonnes of potentially corrupted and dangerous seafood products have been imported into China over the past couple of years, according to investigators, raising significant health fears.

Illegal smugglers allegedly brought in around 5,000 tonnes of contraband seafood from Japan to sell cheaply since 2014, much of it sourced from near the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, according to People's Daily Online.

Customs officers in Qingdao, Shandong province, east China, revealed on August 21 that they have seized a large quantity of scallops, king crabs and fish which was being imported by vans licensed in south-west China's Guangxi province.

Large take: Illegal smugglers allegedly brought in around 5,000 tons of seafood from Japan

Illegal: Customs officers in Qingdao, east China, a large quantity of scallops, crabs and fish

Guilty? The suspected ringleader Wang was captured by police in Penglai Airport on June 24

Earlier this year, customs staff carried out a survey in which they found that some premium seafood was being sold for cheaper prices than was declared, which raised suspicions.

The total value of the smuggled goods was estimated to be around 230 million yuan (£26.2million), and a seafood import company in Shandong became a primary suspect as the investigations got underway.

The suspected group ringleader Wang was captured by police in Penglai Airport on June 24, while customs officials halted other suspects in the cities of Shandong, Fujian, Guangxi and Liaoning.

Officials announced the seafood came into China via a detour in Vietnam, as the smugglers were trying to avoid duty and quarantines, and several tons of it were thought to have come from Fukushima.

Deadly: Fukushima has remained a major hazard zone since the nuclear meltdown in 2011

Outlawed: Nations prohibited the importation of seafood from the region on health grounds

Catastrophic: Over 1,600 people died from 'disaster-related injuries' at Fukushima

The Fukushima area has remained a major hazard zone since the devastating earthquake and subsequent nuclear core meltdown it suffered in March 2011.

Countries quickly prohibited the importation of seafood from the region on health grounds, and even local residents are known to steer clear of eating it.