Chinese police has cracked down on a criminal gang run by foreigners dubbed as "Freedom Fighters" by arresting its 18 members allegedly involved in several cases of drug trafficking and robbery.
The gang, which was formed in 2009, is strictly organised and all members wear matching uniforms and hats bearing its logo after being recruited.
The group even has a priest and treasurer, police said.
Police launched two separate sting operations targeting the "Freedom Fighters" in February and last week, arresting 16 foreigners and two Chinese, state-run news website China.Org.Cn reported.
The report, however, did not disclose the identities of the foreigners.
Large amounts of cocaine and tools allegedly used by the gang members when committing crimes were seized.
Guangzhou has about 1,20,000 permanent foreign residents, including 16,000 from Africa, according to official statistics.
Law enforcement officers investigated more than 5,000 illegal foreign workers in Guangdong province last year.
Most had no work or residence permits and were employed mainly in labour-intensive industries in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region, where there is a major shortage of workers.
The number of illegal foreign workers in the province has been rising in recent years.
Dongguan, a major production centre, investigated 400 foreign illegal workers in 2013, but the figure doubled to more than 800 last year.
In 2011, the Guangdong government tightened rules covering foreigners living and working in the province as part of an effort to crack down on illegal immigration and those who overstay visas or work without permits.
