In a campaign called "Sword Edge" on Wednesday, police in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, closed down 87 suspected prostitution dens, arrested 39 suspects and detained 135 others for minor offences.

500 police officers were mobilized in the campaign, targeting prostitution, gambling, online pornography and fake certificates.

On Yongping Street in Baiyun District, 31 gambling machines were seized and 11 suspects arrested.

The police also arrested two suspected drug users and two hotel owners. At an unlicensed mobile phone shop in Jiefangzhuang, police confiscated 28 stolen mobile phones and 80 SIM cards.

In the evening, Yongping Street police arrested 11 suspected sex workers in a hotel.

They raided 87 rooms housing prostitutes and procurers, closed 322 unlicensed hairdressing parlors (often used as a front for prostitution in China), and shut down 157 unlicensed recreation venues.

The procurers had sought customers for the prostitutes on streets or handed out cards on which their telephone numbers were printed, police said.

(Shenzhen Daily October 21, 2005)