Police in China's southernmost province of Hainan say they have busted a gang which organized illegal emigration, an activity which is said to be rampant in southern China.

Officers said they found and detained three suspicious would-be passengers at Meilan International Airport in Haikou, capital of Hainan Province. The officers said the three, Li Meixian and her two children Lin Lijuan and Lin Bin, wanted to fly to the United States via Hong Kong on March 22 to be reunited with the youngsters' father.

Five members of the gang have also been detained, said Wei Yixin, an official from the Hainan Provincial Bureau of Frontier Armed Police.

Two other gang members an American Chinese woman and a Chinese man with an American green card were still on the run on Friday and being hunted by police, Wei told China Daily. "Police are doing all they can to capture the two suspects," he added.

The arrests have dealt a heavy blow to illegal emigration activities in the region, said Wei.

Police said Li has admitted paying US$18,000 to the gang for passports and visas obtained illegally. They said Li would have had to pay another US$72,000 to the gang when she and her children arrived in the US. The three wanted to be reunited with Li's husband who illegally emigrated to Chicago two years ago.

The family came from East China's Fujian Province and could not speak the Hainan dialect but had passports issued by Hainan Province. This raised the suspicions of the frontier police, Wei said.

The case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department of Hainan Provincial Bureau of Frontier Armed Police for further investigation on March 31.

After interviewing Li and her children, police arrested five suspected 'snakeheads' in Haikou on April 3 and seized 27 passports at their homes.

The gang are said to have helped more than 60 people apply for passports and visas through illegal means in recent years. Most of them were single women.

Of them, eight were said to have successfully left the mainland to emigrate while the authorities managed to stop the rest.

Some local residents said they were pleased about the crackdown.

"It will certainly help deter such criminals and help bring illegal emigration events under control," said Lu Wenbiao, a resident in Haikou.

Li and her two children will probably be fined and sent back home.

(China Daily April 29, 2006)