China arrests nine human traffickers - media

BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) Chinese police raided a human trafficking ring and arrested nine people for kidnapping and selling children in northwestern and central China, state media reported today.

The traffickers snatched more than 20 children and sold some in Hongtong county in the northern province of Shanxi, where kidnapped teenagers and children were found working as slaves in brick kilns in a widely publicised scandal, the Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua said two of the kidnappers, Wang Aizhong and Li Caimei, tricked kids to get on to their motorcycle on their way to school or broke into houses to snatch babies.

The pair were part of a ring of more than 20 people who took children in the provinces of Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi, it said.

Police rescued two children and would continue to search for others who remained missing, it said.

REUTERS SBC RN1746