Police in northeast China's say they have thwarted a plan by two people traffickers, or "snakeheads", to smuggle 32 Chinese into the Republic of Korea.

Police carried out a series of raids from 2:00 AM until 4:00 PM, arresting 34 people, on Tuesday in the city of Dandong.

The 27 men and seven women, aged from 21 to 48, were all from Wuchang, in Heilongjiang Province, said a spokesman for police in Dandong.

They were arrested in hotels and railway stations in Dandong, Liaoning Province, after police received an anonymous tip off, the spokesman said.

Police alleged the detainees had confessed to planning to steal into the Republic of Korea, but they were all of Han nationality and could not speak a word of Korean, the spokesman said.

Investigations were continuing, he said.

Chinese border police arrested 2,422 people suspected of trying to illegally cross borders last year, including 475 suspected of human trafficking, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2007)