Eleven thieves from three different gangs were caught red-handed by police on Tuesday afternoon in downtown Foshan, a city in southern Guangdong Province, Nanfang Daily reports.

Eleven thieves are caught red-handed Tuesday afternoon, January 20, 2009 in a business district in Foshan. [Photo: nfdaily.cn]

A local police station arranged a team of 30-plus plainclothes to combat the gangs of thieves who often haunted downtown shopping centres and streets in Foshan before the upcoming Spring Festival. Apart from the 11 thieves caught, the police also seized two cellphones they stole.

The cops also caught six other theft suspects prior to the operation.