Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou raided the offices of Uber on Thursday, seizing equipment from employees as part of an investigation into illegal taxi services being offered in the city.
The Guangzhou Municipal Transport Commission said that local authorities believe Uber was still providing its services to users despite being banned by the Chinese government back in January, according to the Associated Press.
"The company is suspected of unlicensed operation and conducting illegal business by allowing private car owners to offer taxi services," an official with the city's traffic authority told said to local paper Xinhua.
Thousands of iPhones and other devices were seized on Thursday night by authorities during the raid, but we have not been able to confirm if they belonged to Uber employees or Uber drivers yet.
Pictures of the raid were obtained by People's Daily, China and posted on Twitter last night.
Branch of @Uber in Guangzhou was investigated by local authorities on April 30, suspected of illegal operations. pic.twitter.com/k2FTlUWdtb
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) May 1, 2015
The transport commission recently announced that anyone found providing illegal taxi services would be fined 30,000 yuan ($4,860 USD).
A Uber spokesperson confirmed to AP that while they are cooperating with Guangzhou authorities its services will still be provided to local residents.
As of Friday morning, Uber's services were still available in Guangzhou. The company has a history of just doing what it wants and paying the price later so we would be shocked if Uber stops linking users with drivers in Guangzhou despite the raid.
Police also raided a Uber driver training session in Chongqing back in December, according to The Huffington Post.
Uber, which is currently valued at about $40 billion, operates in 53 countries and 200 cities around the globe, including Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai.
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