Trafficking ring busted; 32 women rescued

Police have busted a human trafficking ring, rescuing 32 Vietnamese women who were sold in rural areas of China, the country's top police authority said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Public Security issued a statement saying that 75 suspects had been apprehended and nearly 130,000 yuan ($18,900) seized.

The ring engaged in the trafficking of women under the guise of soliciting workers or tourists from Vietnam, the ministry said.

It operated in Yunnan province, which borders Vietnam, abducting women and transporting them to other regions in Chinese hinterland provinces, such as Henan, Anhui and Jiangxi, to be sold.

The ring was uncovered after a case involving several abducted women was cracked at a railway station in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, in September 2015.

The ministry began a massive operation with police from seven provinces joining forces, and the traffickers were arrested after police had collected sufficient evidence.

According to the ministry, the traffickers sold the women in places where it was unlikely that they would be recognized and made transactions in remote locations.

An official with the ministry's criminal investigation division said the ministry will continue to crack down on human trafficking, especially along borders.

The incident is the latest in a string of major human trafficking cases over the past few years. In 2015, police rescued 177 Myanmar women and children, arresting 37 people involved in the case.

The women and children were smuggled to Yunnan province and then sold to rural families in Henan and Shandong provinces for between 50,000 and 80,000 yuan each.