Police in eastern Guangdong Province have rescued 11 women who were being smuggled to places outside the mainland to work as prostitutes, the Yangcheng Evening News said Monday.

Police in Shantou and Chaozhou cities intercepted 20 women at an intersection near a wharf in Raoping County at 11:40 pm Friday. Investigations found they were being smuggled to an overseas destination, which the paper did not identify.

The police deployed more than 80 officers to search for the women after they received a phone call from a boat at sea off Shantou. The call was from a girl appealing for help.

The 20 women were seized on a journey back to Shantou after being told no ship from the overseas destination was coming at the time to pick them for the rest of the trip.

The paper said 11 of the women were lured to Shantou with attractive job offers. They had learned they were going to work as prostitutes overseas only after they were on board the boat Thursday evening. One of women called police on her mobile phone while their abductors were having dinner.

The remaining nine women were potential illegal immigrants who joined the boat of their own accord, the paper said.

Police arrested the three alleged human smugglers in Chaozhou and a woman "snakehead" in Shantou City.  

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2003)