Cities offering rewards for stowaway tips

Cities in Guangdong province are posting rewards for tips about people sneaking into the Chinese mainland, as they also intensify a crackdown on smuggling.

The rewards for the capture of stowaways are being offered after at least two people suspected of illegally entering Guangdong from Hong Kong tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The two cases were reported in Chenzhou, a city in Hunan province that borders Guangdong.

The two suspects, surnamed Xiao and Deng, were confirmed as having COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, Chenzhou's public security bureau said on Wednesday.

Xiao and Deng allegedly entered the Doumen district of Zhuhai illegally from Hong Kong early on Monday morning and then drove back to Chenzhou in a vehicle they had prepared in advance in Doumen, the bureau said, adding that they used different mobile phones to dodge health code inspections.

The two suspects had been placed under investigation by Chenzhou police on suspicion they committed the crime of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases, it said.

The Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone in the port city of Huizhou, Guangdong, is offering a reward up to 500,000 yuan ($77,000) for tips leading to the capture of stowaways, while Zhuhai has paid its first reward－valued at 100,000 yuan－to residents who tipped off departments cracking down on illegal border crossings.

Meanwhile, the cities of Zhongshan, Dongguan, Jiangmen, Shanwei and Chaozhou are also offering rewards as they crack down on stowaways and smuggling.

Jiangmen has set up a special fund valued at 1 million yuan to reward residents who tip off police with clues leading to the capture of stowaways and smugglers.

Police in Jiangmen seized more than 100 metric tons of frozen meats valued at 5 million yuan after cracking down on a smuggling case late last month, and Dongguan police seized 13 tons of frozen products earlier this year and detained four suspected smugglers after investigating seven speedboats in its waters.

Police in Zhongshan recently detained 19 people suspected of crossing the border illegally.

All passengers who enter Guangdong from Hong Kong via its exit and entry ports have been required to undergo two weeks of quarantine, plus another seven days of home isolation, since Jan 26.

Guangdong reported seven locally transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with one in Guangzhou and six in Shenzhen, and 22 imported cases, including 13 from Hong Kong, the provincial health commission said on Thursday.

The cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen all reported imported COVID-19 cases from Hong Kong on Wednesday, it said.

Li Wenfang contributed to this story.