NANNING, March 4 -- Five gun and knife traffickers were captured by police overnight in Guilin City, southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the region's police authority announced on Tuesday.

Police received reports that an unidentified person had dropped off a bag at Guilin Bus Station on Monday evening. Later, police found replica guns, contraband knives as well as bows and arrows in the bag.

Senior security official Meng Jianzhu and Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun called for an immediate and thorough investigation.

At about 4 a.m. Tuesday, five suspects, all from Sichuan Province, were arrested.

The suspects confessed they had been trafficking replica guns and contraband knives since Sept. 9, in Guangxi, Hunan and other places.