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Twenty-one people have been charged with helping dozens of stowaways bound for the United States and Canada, said local law enforcement officers in Fuzhou, the capital city of eastern Fujian Province on Tuesday.
Chen Peihua, Yang Yuanhao, Lin Andi and 18 others were accused of fabricating passports, visas and other entry documents and enlisting stowaways in 2001 from Fujian Province.
Prosecutors in Fuzhou said that about 40 of the stowaways had been released on parole after they were captured by law enforcement officers in the United States.
They were also accused of teaching prospective stowaways how to deal with overseas border control or immigration officers.
Chen, Yang, and Lin were charged with receiving a total of 420,000 US dollars in illegal profits.
The three suspects were caught on March 15 as they were allegedly enlisting six more locals as stowaways bound for the United States and Canada.
A spokesperson for the Fuzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court declined to say when the verdict of the first trial would be handed down.
(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2003)
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