A cross-border gang of smugglers was busted in south China's Guangdong Province when they were caught trading in a flood prevention channel.

Nine people were caught in a drainage channel in Luohu District, Shenzhen City, when they were spotted trading at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, a Shenzhen customs official said here on Thursday.

The officials seized 300 new Nokia cell phones, 300 cell phone batteries and 900 cell phone LCD (liquid crystal display) screens.

Meanwhile, customs officials in neighboring Hong Kong caught three people at the other end of the channel and seized 1,190 cell phones, 4,850 cell phone LCD screens and 495 kilograms of silver ingots.

The smuggled goods were worth about 5 million yuan (714,286 U.S. dollars), the official said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2008)