China upgrades anti-human trafficking operations

In a recent anti-human trafficking operation conducted by China's Ministry of Public Security, more than 300 suspects were arrested and over 60 children were rescued. It's the biggest human trafficking case to be cracked in 2013.

It's late in the evening and six thousand police in 20 provinces around China are working together to crack China's human trafficking rings and save the children who've been sold to remote villages.

Just ahead in this village, the police believe there is a child who may be the victim of a human trafficking operation. The police are preparing to bring the child out. Meanwhile, police around the country are working in close cooperation to crack the human trafficking rings operating in the country."

Suspects have been questioned throughout the night. Among them, traffickers and those who buy children. The man behind bars is believed to have sold six children; the police are trying to find out where those children are now.

Vice Inspector of the Criminal Investigation Dept. at the Ministry of Public Security, Zhou Shuqing, said, "Anti-human trafficking laws are an important safeguard in ensuring the public's safety and security. We use DNA profiling and a missing children database. We've set up a special office to investigate cases of child abduction and have increased coordination between regions and departments. Police across 20 provinces are working together on this particular operation. So far, the results have been exceptionally good."

Five years ago, this couple's 3-year-old son was abducted. After five heartbreaking years of searching for the missing boy, police found him using a DNA match. The couple are now being reunited with their son for the first time today.

Mother of the abducted child, Yao Zhongqin, said, "We have been looking all these years without any clues. About three months ago, police told us they had found a child who they believed was our son. When we notified the police our son had disappeared five years ago, they took a blood test from us for DNA purposes, and they did it again when we arrived here. Now they're sure of the match."

Their son is eight years old now, he's very confused and doesn't understand that the woman who has been looking after him, isn't his mother. Both families have agreed to let him stay where he is for the time being until he can come to terms with what's happened.

Yao Zhongqin said, "We are just so happy to have found our son. We will work hard to earn more to support his schooling. We can't take him back straight away, this would cause him more distress because he's so young and doesn't fully understand the situation. We need to give him time."

So far, more than 2000 families have been reunited with the help of DNA matches.