Two Chinese nationals were arrested in Saitama Prefecture for allegedly arranging the smuggling of Chinese into Japan, police said Thursday.
Zuo Wanping, 51, and Wu Weiwang, 27, are suspected of illegally obtaining visas for three Chinese and brining them into Japan in January 2003. Police suspect the two were paid to smuggle at least 80 Chinese into the country.
According to investigators, Zuo found people in Shanxi Province and elsewhere in China who wished to enter Japan and provided them with illegally obtained visas for cooks or business travelers, depending on their appearance.
Zuo allegedly charged 1.8 million yen to 2.4 million yen per person.
Police said Zuo was known in China as a member of a Snakehead gang -- an organization that smuggles people internationally for profit.