Police in northeast China's?say they have thwarted a plan
by two people traffickers, or "snakeheads", to smuggle 32 Chinese
into the Republic of Korea.
Police carried out a series of raids from 2:00 AM until 4:00 PM,
arresting 34 people, on Tuesday in the city of Dandong.
The 27 men and seven women, aged from 21 to 48, were all from
Wuchang, in Heilongjiang Province, said a spokesman for police in
Dandong.
They were arrested in hotels and railway stations in Dandong,
Liaoning Province, after police received an anonymous tip off, the
spokesman said.
Police alleged the detainees had confessed to planning to steal
into the Republic of Korea, but they were all of Han nationality
and could not speak a word of Korean, the spokesman said.
Investigations were continuing, he said.
Chinese border police arrested 2,422 people suspected of trying
to illegally cross borders last year, including 475 suspected of
human trafficking, according to the Ministry of Public
Security.
(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2007)