It is the largest illegal emigration case that has been busted in Liaoning, according to Jiang Limin, an official with the Liaoning border police unit.

On Sunday morning, Liaoning border police were tipped off that a large group of illegal emigrants would meet in Shenyang, the provincial capital, and then leave for Dalian or Dandong -- the former is a key port city in southern Liaoning and the later is a city bordering the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) -- where they would use fishing boats to escape.

After hours of tracking, police took action on Monday morning, seizing the 59 suspected illegal emigrants and the two alleged organizers as well as their vehicles, as they were on their way to Dandong, Jiang said.

"Among the illegal 59 emigrants that have been caught, 48 are men. Twenty people are from Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, 25 are from Jilin, one is from Liaoning and the 13 others are from East China's Fujian Province," Jiang said, adding the destination was the Republic of Korea (ROK).

According to initial inquiries, the large-scale smuggling activity was organized by overseas "snake head" gang members.

The illegal emigrant suspects have been abetted by the gang, which stood to make a fortune abroad.

Liaoning, geographically close to the ROK, is regarded as a convenient route for human smugglers.

(China Daily April 30, 2003)