Chinese police bust USA, South America human smuggling syndicate; arrest 22 and seize 35,000 forged visas plus counterfeit seals
22 suspects arrested and more than 35,000 forged visas reportedly seized by Guangdong officials in biggest mainland crackdown in decade
Guangdong police have reportedly busted a massive people smuggling operation that earned 220 million yuan (HK$266 million) from getting 3,200 people out of the country.
The investigation was the biggest crackdown of its kind in the country over the past decade, mainland media said.
Citing Guangdong provincial public security authorities, Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday that security officials in Jiangmen arrested 22 suspects and found more than 35,000 forged visas and 270 counterfeit official seals.
As part of the crackdown, the authorities also froze bank accounts containing a total of 11 million yuan.
The authorities said they believed the syndicate, based in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, had smuggled 3,200 people from China to unidentified countries in North and South America.
"If the syndicate had not been taken down then, within two years, it would really have developed into a huge smuggling business specialising in the Americas," the report quoted an unnamed police officer as saying.
The syndicate's kingpin, identified only by his surname of Li, reportedly specialised in forging documents, and allegedly ran a travel firm in Shenzhen, which he used as a front for the syndicate's operations.