Over 400 Snakeheads Arrested in Fuzhou in 2000This capital of East China's Fujian Province saw more than 400 snakeheads (smugglers of illegal migrants) arrested last year, an all-time high.Off the total, 98 suspects have already been sentenced, while another 277 are awaiting sentencing, a local source said. On November 14, 2000, some leading snakeheads were sentenced at a public hearing in Fujian's Changle City to imprisonment ranging from eight to ten years. A total of 26 snakeheads voluntarily surrendered to the police last year in Changle City. The local government of Lianjiang County, also in Fujian, offered a reward of 500,000 yuan (about US$62,500) for the arrest of ten notorious snakeheads last year. The Fuzhou police investigated 24 cases of illegal migrant smuggling last year, involving 124 suspects, a significant drop from the over 100 cases in 1999, according to the source. Meanwhile, 1,020 illegal migrants were sent back home last year, down from 1999's 2,894 such people, the source said. |
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