The suspected leader of a smuggling ring thought to have transported the 58 Chinese nationals found suffocated in a truck at the British port of Dover last summer has been arrested.
The official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reported yesterday that the alleged gang leader, Mr Chen Xiaokong, was arrested last week at a disco in the south-eastern coastal province of Fujian.
It was reported that Mr Chen was found in a corner of the disco in Liangjiang County taking drugs. He was described as a well-known illegal emigration broker who smuggles clients out of the mainland for as much as $60,000 each.
The bodies of the 58 illegal immigrants - 54 men and four women - were flown back last week to Fujian province.
The group's tragic journey began last June when they set off for a new life in Britain. The truck's cooling system had been switched off during the drive to Britain from Rotterdam, with temperatures in the cargo hold soaring to 32 degrees. Only two people survived the tragedy. The Dutch driver of the truck, Mr Perry Wacker, has been charged in Britain with 58 counts of manslaughter.
Many villages in Fujian have been transformed from poverty to relative affluence by money sent home to relatives from illegal immigrants in the West.
Despite a heavy police crackdown, the human trade flourishes, due in part to collusion between smugglers and local officials, but also because the perceived rewards of a new life in the West are seen as far outweighing the risks of the journey.