Police Seize 3 Snakeheads in FujianAfter evading police for over eight years, three "snakeheads," a term used to describe people who illegally smuggle people to different countries, were arrested in east China's Fujian Province.The trio tried to transport 19 people to Taiwan in February 1993, but the boats from the island failed to come to the designated sea area to pick up the group of stowaways. The three "snakeheads," or human traffickers, escaped but the police did not give up on trying to hunt them down. In August this year, a frontier post in Putian, located in the province, received a tip that one of the three "snakeheads," She Qinghua, had come back to his home. On the evening of August 16, She, believing that the police had already forgotten about him, leisurely sailed his transportation boat near the Nanri Island where he lives. But no sooner had he weighed anchor at the beach, the police swooped in on him. With the help of She's confessions, the police also seized the other two "snakeheads" She Qinghui and Shi Yuquan. Over the past four months, police in Fuzhou, the provincial capital, have seized 152 snakeheads. As the police strengthen attacks on illegal immigration, snakeheads apparently have got scared. During the past two months, human trafficking activities along the coast of Fujian have almost died out. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |