Law enforcers from Guangdong and Hong Kong took down a total of 30 smugglers who were caught rustling 121 illegal immigrants from South Asia to Hong Kong through southern China.
A joint operation conducted by authorities from South China's Guangdong Province and Hong Kong conducted between March 17 and March 20 successfully nabbed members of a notorious human trafficking group as they try to bring the immigrants to Hong Kong, the Global Times reported Tuesday.
According to the outlet, the illegal immigrants were being transported to the Chinese territory through the province of Shenzhen.
According to the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong and Guangdong police acted based on the information they got in October last year.
The arrested members of the syndicate include 12 core members involving a Bangladeshi, five Pakistanis, an Indian, four Chinese and an Indonesian.
According to authorities, members of the human smuggling ring arrange for the transport of the illegal immigrants and bring them to Hong Kong in exchange for a significant amount of money.
"This syndicate is suspected of recruiting human cargo from places like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh for Hong Kong," said Organised Crime and Triad Bureau Superintendent Kwan King-Pan.
Apparently, the immigrants pay snakeheads in their respective areas in order to travel through legitimate channels like Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in order to enter China.
From there, they take the train to Shenzhen where they use boats or border fences to cross to Hong Kong.
Authorities believe that the operation with code name "Highcrest" has finally put an end to the series of human smuggling to Hong Kong.
"It's believed that this operation has successfully neutralized a major human smuggling syndicate active in both Hong Kong and mainland China," Kwan told reporters.
Chinese lawmaker Zhu Lieyu believes that the law governing illegal immigration in the country provides inadequate punishment for arrested immigrants who enter the country unlawfully as it only stipulates a maximum of one year imprisonment for cases of illegal entry.