SEVEN people from South Asia were detained near Huanggang Park in Futian District, close to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border, when they tried to swim across the Shenzhen River to Hong Kong, according to DT News.

Three of the people were detained by the city’s border police officers after they were spotted swimming in the Shenzhen River towards Hong Kong on June 19. During the interrogation, they told the officers that another four people were also planning to cross the border. At around 7 p.m. the same day, the officers detained those four people on the shore of the Shenzhen River.

All of the seven suspects are from South Asia and they had been hiding in the mangrove forest near the river for two days waiting for the right moment to cross the border. As they were running out of food and water, they decided to try their luck June 19, but they were busted by border patrollers after swimming only 50 meters.

The case has been handed to relevant departments for further investigation. The city’s border defense department has taken a variety of measures to beef up border control along its ocean border, according to the report.

(Zhang Yang)