see also: in July 2008:   CBP Discovers 2.7 Tons of Marijuana on Cargo Box Truck   Holiday Travel Reminder for Northwest Border Crossers   Current, Former CBP Employees Assist in Arrest of Purse Snatchers   CBP Officers Arrest Man Wanted for Failure to Register as Sex Offender   California SENTRI Participant in Hot Water, CBP Finds Dope in Vehicle   CBP Officers Arrest Man Wanted for Aggravated Sexual Assault on Minor   CBP Revokes Trusted Traveler Privileges After Finding Prohibited Items During Inspection ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Newark, N.J. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Newark Liberty International Airport arrested 41-year-old Yi Hsin Lee and 45-year-old Chen Chih-Yuan Lan, both Taiwanese nationals, attempting to smuggle children from mainland China into New York.

Three children from China were involved in the smuggling attempt, all of whom had traveled to Hong Kong from Fujian Province in China. CBP was acting on a tip-off from the Hong Kong Immigration Department regarding a suspicious transit.

Human trafficking is a major problem, and a serious crime. Through the combined efforts of CBP and ICE, this child smuggling operation was stopped. Due to their diligent work, the officers were able to ascertain that the smugglers were not relatives of the children and took the smugglers into custody. The children are being cared for by the ICE Office of Detention and Removal and will be taken to Chicago and put in the hands of the Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. They will try to contact relatives of the children.

The smugglers are facing prosecution in Federal court in downtown Newark N.J., under Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo. Connections to other illegal aliens already in the U.S. were also discovered and are being investigated by ICE.

"Child smuggling is a dangerous business. In many cases, children are being smuggled into the United States to join family members who are already here illegally. Very often, these children may be in the custody of the smugglers for extended amounts of time. Unfortunately, in some cases, the children suffer both mental and physical abuse at the hands of the smugglers in order to ensure that they do not alert authorities to their true identities," said Reginald I. Manning, CBP Acting Director of Field Operations in New York.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.