Two truckloads of stolen coral reef, 40 tons in total, were seized Friday morning in Haikou of south China's Hainan Province.  

Police sources said the illegally picked coral reef has been put back into the South China Sea immediately so that they could stay alive.

At 7:30 a.m. Friday, the police set an ambush at the Nanbei Truck Parking Lot on Qiuhai Road of Haikou city after they were learned that two trucks loaded with coral reef would arrive from the coastal city of Sanya in the southern tip of the island province.

One hour later, two trucks with licenses registered in north China's Hebei Province drove into the parking lot. Both drivers claimed they were transporting rocks at 60 yuan (about US$7.2) per ton. However, policemen found that all goods packed in white sacks on the trucks were coral reef.

As the cargo owners didn't show up at the scene, no clues were available to determine where the coral reef had come from. Police investigation is under way.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2004)