The wedding party's decorated limousines shined in the sun while the groom and his best men done up in their best clothing awaited the bride's arrival.

But she wasn't all they were waiting for.

Before a gang of thugs could even put out their cigarettes, this "wedding party" swooped down on a village in Guangdong, capturing a gang of cigarette racketeers.

The law enforcement disguise had worked just as planned, catching the crooks off-guard.

"Otherwise, the suspects would have all run away, said Zhang Shaoxin, deputy director of the Economic Crime Investigation Department with the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Security.

Zhang Thursday announced the smashing of 63 such underground counterfeit cigarette production bases since a special campaign began on October 24. Some 364 suspects, including suspected principal gang chiefs have been detained for investigation.

Addressing a news conference in Guangzhou, Zhang said 10 fake cigarette sales locations, warehouses and printing bases were also cracked down during the special campaign which will continue in the entire province until the end of March next year.

Also seized are cigarette production equipment, production lines, tobacco leaves, finished and semifinished products and other raw materials worth more than 30 million yuan (US$3.61 million), Zhang said.

Seven trucks, which were used to transport the counterfeit cigarettes, were also confiscated.

Zhang said the special campaign had dealt a heavy blow to counterfeit cigarette production and sales activities that used to be active in Guangdong Province, neighboring the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

And several counterfeit cigarette sales networks were believed to have been destroyed, Zhang said.

The illegal cigarette production bases were mainly smashed in the cities of Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shantou, Chaozhou, Shaoguan, Shanwei, Maoming, Huizhou and Zhongshan.

And most of the production bases were situated in remote rural areas, making the crackdown more difficult to implement, Zhang said.

Most of the counterfeit cigarettes made in Guangdong were transported to other areas for big profits.

On October 24, Dongguan police successfully smashed two counterfeit cigarette production bases in the city's Fenggang and Qingxi towns, detaining 13 suspects.

And more than 5 million yuan (US$60,241) worth of production lines and equipment, plus three trucks, were seized on the spot.

On December 7, Maoming police also cracked down two secret fake cigarette production bases, detaining a total of 19 suspects. More than 7 million yuan (US$843,000) worth of production equipment and a truck were seized on the spot.

(China Daily December 19, 2003)