Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 74 - 69 Salted Fish Pancakes (3)

Chapter 74: Chapter 69 Salted Fish Pancakes (3)

The airport hall was spacious and bright, with the environment meticulously clean and spotless.

The entrance door was sensor-equipped and automated, while inside the hall there were escalators and flight status boards with LCD displays.

There were CCTV systems and LCD master-slave clocks that displayed the year, month, day, day of the week, and time down to the second, just like the ones seen in movies and TV shows—everything was very advanced.

There were many travelers, both Chinese and foreigners, coming to take their flights or to see off their friends and family. A Chinese group from overseas was taking a group photo.

All of this made Han Yu feel as if he had entered a completely different world—it all felt so sci-fi, so unreal.

While he was still in a daze, Shen Rulan came over in a hurry.

"San’er, let’s go eat, stop gaping."

"Where’s Manager Ye?"

"Right here. Instead of watching the luggage, you’re zoning out here. It’s a good thing we’re at the airport; if this was a train station, we might not even realize if something got lost."

Ye Xingguo patted his shoulder, bent down to pick up the travel bag, and started to lead him outside.

Having completed the deal, Zhang Asheng was in a good mood and chuckled as they walked: "Old Ye, don’t be hard on San’er, it’s his first time at the airport."

Han Yu looked back and asked curiously, "Manager Ye, where’s the airplane? I didn’t see it."

Ye Xingguo thought to himself how this kid really hadn’t seen much of the world and explained, "You have to go to the waiting hall to see the planes."

Zhang Asheng felt it was a shame for Salted Fish to visit the airport and not see an airplane, so he jokingly said, "You don’t need to go to the waiting hall. If you’re lucky, you might see one on the way back."

"Really?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

The three went to the parking lot and got back into the Santana.

The driver, surnamed Xu, asked, "Sister Shen, where to now?"

Now that the US Dollars were in hand, they needed to be exchanged for RMB quickly, and then use the RMB to buy more Foreign Exchange Certificates, then figure out a way to exchange for more US Dollars...

Thinking about having to count the dollars in person during the exchange, which was inconvenient outdoors, and also having an extra kid today, the space at home was too small and couldn’t accommodate more people.

Shen Rulan turned her head and said, "Manager Ye, how about we go to the Red Flag Inn? There’s a public phone there, and it’s convenient to call back home."

Ye Xingguo blinked, then cheerfully smiled and said, "Okay."

The driver, surnamed Xu, asked, "Which Red Flag Inn?"

"The one on Zhongshan North Road, it’s not far from my place."

"If you mention your place, I know where it is."

...

There were so many cars on the road that Director Zhang and his team from Changhang East Sea Branch, even with assistance, found it no easy task to keep up with the Santana.

Han Yu was thinking about passing on the intelligence when Zhang Asheng suddenly said, "San’er, you wanted to see an airplane, right? Look quickly!"

"Where?"

"Over there, move over here."

Zhang Asheng moved his legs aside, letting Han Yu, who had been sitting between them, move closer to the window.

They were so enthusiastic...

Encountering suspects like them, Han Yu could hardly bear to arrest them, but since they were engaged in illegal activities, they must be caught.

Han Yu took several deep breaths, leaned over the window, and did indeed see the planes.

Several of them, parked in the open airport.

However, his attention wasn’t on the planes, as he was covertly tapping his fingers.

Zhang Junyan was driving an old Volga, which couldn’t match the speed of the brand new Santana, plus the Changhang police officer driving didn’t know the area well.

Worried about losing the trail, he was anxious when the Radiotelegraphist sitting by the back window excitedly said, "Zhongshan North Road, the Red Flag Inn!"

"Salted Fish said that?"

"Yeah, he was afraid I couldn’t see, and sent it three times in a row."

"That’s great."

Zhang Junyan finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately lifted his walkie-talkie, "Chief Zhou Chief Zhou, the suspect plans to go to the Red Flag Inn on Zhongshan North Road, the suspect plans to go to the Red Flag Inn on Zhongshan North Road!"

"Received!"

"Director Chen Director Chen, Salted Fish has news, he is heading to the Red Flag Inn on Zhongshan North Road with the suspect!"

"Understood, ensure Salted Fish’s safety at all costs."

"Yes."

...

Passing on the most important information at the crucial moment, it seems that they had chosen the right person in Little Salted Fish.

Director Chen inwardly felt gratified, set down the walkie-talkie, and watched with a smile as Old Fan from the Police Department dressing as an overseas Chinese and Xiao Miao the translator from the Port Authority’s Foreign Affairs Office asked, "How much did those Indian sailors exchange for US Dollars?"

"After deducting the commission fee, a total of $29,300."

"That much!"

Han Yu was too far away earlier to see anything.

Old Fan and Xiao Miao pretended to be overseas Chinese queuing behind the Indians, watching and listening clearly.

Old Fan pulled out a notebook, excitedly reporting, "The foreign exchange certificates in the hands of the three suspects are not the 45,000 RMB we expected, but a whopping 109,800."

Director Chen was shocked, "No wonder they insisted on Salted Fish sending them to Bailong Port last night, they were carrying so much money!"

Old Fan nodded his head, then continued, "Shen Rulan knew that exchanging so much at once would raise suspicion at the exchange point. So she divided the Foreign Exchange Certificates among six Indian sailors to exchange separately."

"Each person ends up with over eighteen thousand when it’s divided up."

"That’s indeed a good amount; the staff at the exchange point found it very strange. When Shen Rulan saw the translator from the shipping agency return to the airport after sending several Indian seamen off, she simply transformed herself into a translator for the shipping agency, even showing them a work ID."

Old Fan looked up at Director Zhou from the airport police station and then turned to glance at the foreign exchange police officer from the East Sea Police Department who had just come in, continuing, "She took all the passports of the Indian seamen and showed them to the staff at the exchange point.

She explained that the Indians had just entered the country yesterday and planned to take this opportunity to travel to the Capital and Chang’an, among other places, and to buy some Chinese gifts for their families, which is why they had exchanged a larger amount of Foreign Exchange Certificates upon entry.

But as soon as they checked into the Binjiang Seaman Club, they received a notice from the head office in the United Kingdom that tickets had already been booked for them to fly to Hong Kong today and then transfer from Hong Kong back to India.

The Indian seamen had no choice but to cancel their original plans. The Foreign Exchange Certificates they exchanged yesterday were now useless to them, so they decided to convert them all into US dollars before boarding the plane."

This was exploiting a loophole due to the lack of communication between the exchange points in Binjiang and East Sea...

Director Chen realized the woman was quite shrewd and pressed on: "And then?"

"The staff looked over the passports and verified that the Indian seamen had indeed entered the country last evening. With her ship agency employee credential, they believed her."

"Director Chen, we have CCTV at the airport. We have footage of them distributing the Foreign Exchange Certificates, exchanging them for US dollars, and splitting the spoils afterwards."

"Director Zhou, I’m very grateful."

"There’s no need to be so formal; we’re all part of the same police family."

The recently arrived foreign exchange police officer (equivalent to the current entry and exit management police) asked in a low voice, "Director Chen, do you have all the necessary paperwork?"

"The paperwork has already been prepared."

Director Chen opened his briefcase and took out a stack of warrants. He thought to himself, I even brought the official seal, so if you’re worried about incomplete paperwork, we can issue it on the spot.

The foreign exchange police officer took the paperwork, glanced at it, and asked, "When do you plan to make the arrests?"

"The three domestic suspects have already gone far, we can arrest them now."

"It’s not good to make the arrest in the departure hall. How about I go and talk to our Customs colleagues and ask them to find an excuse to bring the six suspects to the office?"

"That sounds good, thank you."

"No need to thank me."

Director Chen had borrowed fifteen police officers and six cars from Changhang East Sea Branch upon his arrival in East Sea early this morning.

Out of these, five officers and two cars were assisting in Zhang Junyan’s second team, while the rest were on standby at the airport.

To avoid negative impact, Director Zhou and the foreign exchange officer from the East Sea side hurried to make arrangements.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, everything was ready.

The six Indian seamen had done nothing but still made a big profit, celebrating their windfall in the departure hall, when two customs officers approached them.

"Hello, are you Mr. Tu Han?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Would you mind showing your plane ticket and baggage check?"

"Is there a problem?"

The tall Indian seamen were confused but still cooperatively took out the plane ticket and baggage claim ticket from their bag.

"Are you all together?"

"Yes."

The customs officer glanced at the baggage claim, looked up, and said, "I’m sorry, but we suspect there may be contraband items in your checked luggage. We need to do an inspection. Please come with us."

The tall Indian grew anxious: "Impossible, you’ve already checked our luggage."

"We need to check it again; it won’t take too long."

"Okay then, where should we go?"

"Please follow me."

The Indian seamen had no choice but to follow them.

They walked into a large office and were surprised to find a dozen or so uniformed Chinese law enforcement officers, not sure if they were police or military, waiting for them.

Meanwhile, Han Yu followed Ye Xingguo to an old-looking state-owned travel inn.

Zhang Asheng and Shen Rulan did not come in; they gave a hundred RMB to the driver, shouldered their luggage and the bag with money, and went to a privately-owned small restaurant across the street.

It seemed that Ye Xingguo was very familiar with the staff at the inn. After completing the check-in, he took out a telephone directory and sat by the reception desk making calls.

Han Yu took the keys, delivered the luggage to the room, locked the door, and returned to the reception desk, hearing him clearly finalizing deals over the phone, asking the other party how much they wanted, and telling them to come over for a face-to-face discussion.

They were very cautious, and just like when they exchanged foreign currency in Binjiang, one person would conduct the transaction, with the money not being on-person, while two others would watch from a distance to ensure there was no danger before bringing the money over.

Zhang Asheng and Shen Rulan were sitting by the window of the restaurant across the street, from where they could clearly see everything happening around the inn. Han Yu was worried that Director Zhang and the others might get exposed.

"San’er, you go and eat first."

"Manager Ye, what about you?"

"I still have some calls to make; I’ll join you shortly."

"I’ll wait for you."

"Why wait? Don’t let Manager Zhang wait."

"Alright, I’ll go then."

With no other option, Han Yu had to leave the inn.

He looked left and right carefully as he crossed the street, simultaneously discreetly searching for where Director Zhou and the others might be.

Shen Rulan watched him, amused at his hesitation and fear of being hit by cars as he tried to hurry across, chuckling, "This Little Salted Fish is just stubborn, thinking he can go out to play by himself. He wouldn’t even realize if he got lost."

Zhang Asheng laughed, "He probably thinks East Sea is similar to Binjiang, haha."

Unaware of being the butt of their jokes, Han Yu crossed the street and ensured he was out of their line of sight.

Pretending to be curious about the coffee shop next to the restaurant, he paused mid-step to gawk inside while stealthily signaling.