More than 5,000 police and 10,000 security officers have swept through Shenzhen in one of the largest anti-vice crackdowns this year.
Eighty-one suspected prostitutes and their customers were arrested and more than 9,000 migrants were detained for not having the correct residency papers, according to local media.
Police on Sunday morning targeted illegal hotels and workshops and areas where illegal migrants are known to live - both close to and beyond the Shenzhen second borderline. The area beyond the borderline is still within the police's jurisdiction.
More than 100 criminal cases were allegedly solved overnight and 15 crime syndicates were smashed, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday. Police also detained 554 beggars, flower girls, car washers and other illegal workers.
The term 'illegal residents' usually refers to people without a residency permit, work permit or identity card.
However, a regulation by the Guangdong government issued on July 1 has banned the detention of migrants for not having residency permits.