There are more than 16,000 pigs floating in the river that supply water to Shanghai. The Chinese government has been recovering carcasses from the river the past two weeks, pulling thousands from rivers that directly flow into Shanghai, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Government officials in Shanghai, China’s financial hub, said Thursday that a total of 10,570 carcasses of pigs floating have been pulled from its Huangpu river. That is aside from the 5,528 pigs it has plucked from upstream tributaries in the Jiaxing area of Zhejiang province.

Government authorities give daily updates on the situation and regularly assure the public that tests show Shanghai’s water is safe. No officials have given a full explanation, however, on the massive dumping of pig carcasses that led to 16,000 pigs floating and recovered from the rivers.

Hog farmers in the area have told state media that dumping of swine carcasses is rising because police have begun cracking down on illegal sale of pork products from pigs that have died or carries diseases. These pigs then have no use to farmers who violate the law and thus throw their carcasses in the river.

Southern Weekly, a state-controlled newspaper, citing court documents, reports that three men were sentenced to life in prison in Jiaxing last November for buying dead pigs, intending to sell their meat. The newspaper discloses that the men and their group bought and slaughtered 77,000 dead pigs in a period of more than two years.

Local officials have told Southern Weekly that the city lacks enough facilities to properly dispose the recovered dead pigs. Hog farming is a major business in Jiaxing.

The city of Jiaxing is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhenjiang province. It lies on the Grand Canal of China and borders Shangai to the northeast.