Police had arrested 77 suspects involved in the abduction of children while 17 missing baby boys were rescued, Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

Police said they had information on the whereabouts of another 15 babies and were trying to find another 18 infants.

Police said that abducted babies were bought for 2,000 (US$240) to 4,000 yuan each in Yanjin County in Yunnan and then taken to Changding County in Fujian Province under the care of more than 20 women from Yunnan.

The babies were sold for between 15,000 and 18,000 yuan each, in Changting, Liancheng and Sanming counties in Fujian Province.

According to a CCTV report in April, there were almost 200 children missing from Yunnan. They were between 1 and 6 years old.

The number of stolen children was discovered by Wang Xingpu, a migrant worker in Kunming.

Wang discovered the names of almost 200 stolen children while searching for his two missing boys.

Police rescued 18 children last year. They acknowledged that the criminals were well organized, and some children had been sold to distant places, which made investigations more difficult.

Investigations are continuing.

(Shenzhen Daily June 25, 2004)