NANNING - China's froninter defense forces have broken up a cross-border people smuggling gang and nabbed 12 suspects, said police of southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Monday.

Border police on Friday prevented the gang from transporting 81 illegal immigrants to the nearby province of Guangdong, according to sources with the public security frontier defense forces of Guangxi.

Large numbers of illegal immigrants have been crossing the border to seek jobs in China since the beginning of this year, according to local border police.

To crack down on illegal immigrant, local frontier forces have intensified check-up on vehicles, personnel and materials at infrontier inspection station. So far, 23 suspected human smuggles and more than 600 illegal immigrants have been seized.

The 12 suspects are being detained for further questioning, according to local border police.