Over 3,000 birds saved as poaching case busted in NE China

CHANGCHUN -- More than 3,000 birds were saved as a poaching case was busted in the city of Tonghua, Northeast China's Jilin province, according to the local forestry police.

Since September, the public security bureau for forestry of Tonghua has strengthened crackdowns on poaching. During the crackdown, police received a tip-off about poaching wild birds in the city.

In a raid, police arrested a suspect surnamed Gong and seized 227 wild birds.

After the arrest, the provincial public security bureau for forestry and the public security bureau for forestry of Tonghua jointly established a special team to deal with the case. The team arrested three other suspects and seized 2,906 wild birds.

The suspects confessed that they poached and sold the wild birds for profit.

Now, the four suspects have been put under criminal coercive measures. In China, criminal coercive measures may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention or arrest.

Further investigation is still underway.