Police in Shenzhen and neighboring Hong Kong have arrested 23 people from south Asian countries who were trying to enter Hong Kong with the help of 11 smugglers.
Shenzhen border police on Tuesday said they received a tip-off in mid July saying the stowaways arrived in Guangzhou and then went to Shenzhen by train. They were trying to go to Hong Kong by sea where snakeheads would arrange jobs.
Police in Shenzhen then shared the information with counterparts in Hong Kong.
In the early hours of Sept. 16, the stowaways boarded a boat cruising towards Hong Kong.
Shortly after, police in Shenzhen and Hong Kong launched operations and arrested 10 snakeheads and 23 stowaways on the sea as well as in the two cities. Later another snakehead was arrested.
The stowaways confessed that each of them have paid the snakeheads 2,000 to 4,000 U.S. dollars.
