Police: Kids used by smuggling rings

Three smuggling rings that allegedly used schoolchildren to carry electronic products across the border have been broken up, law enforcement authorities said on Monday.

Twenty-three people were nabbed in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and more than 50 million yuan ($7.5 million) worth of smuggled items were seized, according to the Shenzhen public security bureau.

Electronics - mainly mobile phones - were smuggled into Shenzhen hidden in the bags of children who were attending school in Hong Kong. The children crossed the border into Shenzhen after school, the bureau said, adding that the suspects managed to put the items into the children's bags by enticing them with McDonald's food or icecream.