11 detained in int'l marriage scam in east China

Police in east China's Jiangxi Province have detained 11 suspects for involvement in an international marriage scam in which Vietnamese women were used to swindle money from local villagers, authorities said Friday.

The scam was reported in March last year, when several villagers in Wuyuan's Fuchun Town told police that their Vietnamese spouses disappeared together. The villagers had paid between 30,000 yuan (4,831 U.S. dollars) and 60,000 yuan each to two agents in order to marry the Vietnamese women.

The two agents also disappeared, according to a statement issued by the public security bureau of Wuyuan City.

Police launched a cross-province raid after concluding the case involved international marriage fraud and detained one of the agents in Dongxing City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in December. Dongxing is located on the China-Vietnam border and is adjacent to the Vietnamese city of Mong Cai.

Ten other suspects were detained in several other provinces.

Further investigation into the case is under way.

Marriage scams involving Vietnamese women are not rare in China, as defrauders illegally introduce foreign wives to Chinese villagers who want to start a family.

In November, dozens of Vietnamese brides went missing in the rural areas of Handan City in north China's Hebei Province, making nationwide headlines.