Chinese border police stand guard at the Nansan border crossing in Lincang, Yunnan on Friday. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

China had witnessed a year-on-year increase of 202 percent and 248 percent, respectively, in suspects of illegal border crossing and stowaways seized, officials from the National Immigration Administration (NIA) said on Monday.

Chinese police have seized 17,285 suspects and 18,639 stowaways since December 2020, NIA officials said at a press conference, noting that smugglers are applying secretive and multiple contact and travel methods, creating new challenges to China's border management during the pandemic and posing challenges to epidemic prevention.

China launched a campaign to crack down on border crimes in December 2020. Since then, 1,509 criminal cases had been dealt with, 4,537 suspects had been arrested and 151 criminal groups had been stopped at exit-and-entry ports in Southwest China's Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region alone, said Liu Haitao, a senior official with the National Immigration Administration. 

The two regions have long borders and complex geographical environments and many cross-border residents live here, making the regions a high-risk area for cross-border crimes.

Smuggling groups across Southwest China borders are highly organized. They have a clear division of work among members and apply secretive and multiple contact and travel methods. 

Some foreigners are trying to illegally enter China and Chinese stowaways tried to exit the country to engage in cross-border crimes such as gambling and fraud, according to Liu.

"Some Chinese and foreign residents living near the borders have been engaged in smuggling, providing convenience to smugglers in delivery and accommodation," Liu noted.

In one case in January, officers at a port in Dehong, Yunnan, seized two Chinese nationals trying to leave the country via illegal means, after the officers discovered a gambling and fraud gang. Forty-four suspects have been charged and 19 detained in the case.

In another in April, immigration authorities in Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Hunan provinces worked together to crack down on a smuggling gang, seizing 363 foreign stowaways and uncovering 58 factories suspected of illegal employment.

Smuggling is also causing challenges to China's epidemic management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 2020, a number of cases were recorded in Ruili, a major China-Myanmar border city in Yunnan, after infected Myanmar nationals were smuggled into the region.    

Global Times