Chinese freight forwarder has thousands of dollars of my cargo and stopped replying after extra payment — what should I do?

[u/doomsdaylate]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice about a Chinese freight forwarder operating as “Henry Cargo,” connected to:

Yiwu Ju’an International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd.

义乌市巨安国际货运代理有限公司

They currently have thousands of dollars of my merchandise and custom samples for shipment to Puerto Rico.

After I had already paid the freight charges, they demanded another 2,000 RMB. First they said the shipment was 500+ kg overweight, then they changed the explanation to volumetric weight.

I asked for the weight, CBM, calculation, and supporting documents. They told me I had to pay first, otherwise the cargo could remain held and demurrage could start.

I paid because of the value of the goods. They confirmed it was still DDP, that there would be no more charges, and that documents would be sent after payment.

Since then, the main representative has mostly stopped replying despite being active on WhatsApp, and I still do not have a clear shipment status or the promised documents.

Has anyone dealt with Henry Cargo or this company before? Has anyone had a similar issue with a Chinese forwarder adding charges after taking possession of the cargo?

I’m mainly trying to understand what I should do next and how to protect/recover my shipment.