34 arrested for selling fake IDs

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Police have detained 34 people in Fujian province suspected of selling fake identification certificates to Chinese looking to cross the border illegally, authorities said on Thursday.

The arrests came during a raid on a suspected hideout by more than 200 public security officers from the provincial capital, Fuzhou, as well as Beijing, and Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, on May 16.

"It could be the biggest illegal border-crossing operation discovered in our province this year," said Zhang Jie, a publicity official from Fuzhou's frontier defense corps, which are special police units directly under the Ministry of Public Security.

Officers seized 217 counterfeit seals of government administrations at various levels, 206 fake certificates, including passports, visas and bankbooks, 11 computers and 24 mobile phones.

Authorities declined to give specific details on where the suspects were detained. The case is still under investigation.

Zhang said that in early February Fuzhou police discovered that the suspects were luring people who intended to cross the border illegally by offering fake passports in Fuqing, also in Fujian.

"The ringleaders - two are surnamed Yan and one is called Chen - were our targets, but the principal suspects are hiding overseas," he said.

Fuzhou police also discovered that some suspects were from other parts of the country but came to Fujian to provide fake documents for people crossing the border illegally, "which was the reason we needed help from the frontier defense corps in the capital and the other two provinces," Zhang said.

Since 2011, the suspects "facilitated" 140 people with the intention of crossing the border illegally for 20,000 yuan to 190,000 yuan ($3,140 to $29,800) by making fake tourist visas and passports, a statement from the Fuzhou frontier force said.

Zhang Qiubo, director of research on frontier defense at the Chinese People's Armed Police Force Academy, said earning more money is the main reason people choose to cross the border illegally.

"A few residents who are not educated and have a small income may illegally cross the border to Taiwan and some cities in Southeast Asia, to earn more money or find a better job," Zhang Qiubo said, adding that most illegal border-crossing cases happen in coastal cities.

However, she added that the number of cases has declined in recent years, after China eased exit-entry procedures and enhanced supervision.

Dai Peng, director of criminal investigation for the Chinese People's Public Security University, said the Chinese government has made many achievements in the fight against illegal border crossing.

The solution to the problem is to enrich residents' lives and narrow the income gap, Dai said.

Last year, the frontier police force in China uncovered 936 cases of illegal immigration that involved 2,235 people, according to official statistics. The number of cases increased 14 percent from the previous year, when police uncovered 821 such cases and arrested 1,492 criminals.

Questions:

1. How many people were arrested for selling fake ID’s?

2. Where were they detained?

3. How much do they charge for fake ID’s?

Answers:

1. 34.

2. Fujian province.

3. 20,000 yuan to 190,000 yuan ($3,140 to $29,800) for fake tourist visas and passports to cross the border illegally

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.