Snakeheads sentenced in Chinese court

BEIJING — China's crackdown on human smuggling continues, as state media report a group of so-called snakeheads were given sentences of up to seven years.

The court gave one man, accused of sneaking 13 people out of the country, a seven-year prison sentence last week. His fellow gang members were given up to five years.

The men were caught hiding migrants aboard ships to smuggle them out of China during 1999.

Xinhua news agency also reported Sunday, seven people were recently arrested in the Fujian province for conspiring to smuggle women to Taiwan to work as prostitutes.

Chinese authorities have gone to great pains to show they are cracking down on human smuggling since 58 migrants were found dead in the back of a sealed truck at the British port of Dover in June.