Guangdong police detain 6,200 in epidemic-related crime

Police across South China's Guangdong province have detained a total of 6,165 suspects after cracking down on 5,738 cases involving the COVID-19 epidemic between Jan 25 and Wednesday, according to a statement released by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Public Security on Thursday.

The crackdown has mainly involved phone fraud, price gouging, infringement of intellectual property rights, contract fraud and false advertising. The action dealt a heavy blow to the illegal activities and contributed to the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic by helping ensure social stability in the southern province, the window of the country's reform and opening up, the statement said.

Police detained a total of 1,857 suspects after going after 2,727 phone fraud cases alone during the period, the statement said. The phone fraud cases were estimated to have involved more than 108 million yuan ($15.54 million), the statement said.

The province placed first in fighting against phone fraud in the mainland during the period, the statement said.

But police will not relax their vigilance in the fight against the illegal events involving the epidemic, and more special campaigns will continue to be launched to crack down on crime in the months ahead, the statement added.