CHONGQING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Wang Wanning, an alleged criminal ringleader in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has been extradited from the Republic of the Philippines where she had been hiding.
Wang Wanning, who is suspected of organizing and leading a criminal gang to force more than 2,000 women into prostitution, was extradited to Chongqing on Friday.
Wang's gang was caught in June 2009. Eleven of the gang members, including Wang's sister Wang Ziqi, received death penalties or jail terms ranging from 2.5 to 19 years.
Wang Wanning allegedly fled to Austria and the Philippines and was caught on Wednesday in a restaurant in Manila's Chinatown district by police from China and the Philippines, said a spokesman for the Chongqing municipal public security bureau.
Close cooperation between Interpol and police authorities of China, Austria and the Philippines made the arrest successful, the spokesman said.
Wang Ziqi was sentenced to death in August, 2010, after being found guilty of five criminal charges. These include organizing and leading a criminal gang, forcing women into prostitution, organizing a prostitution ring, illegal imprisonment, and bribery.
She later appealed, but the Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court upheld the sentence.
The gang was convicted of forcing more than 2,000 of women into prostitution over a decade. The women worked in brothels disguised as teahouses, beauty salons and hotels.
