VietNamNet Bridge - According to a written document of the police department of Si Ma Cai District of the northern border province of Lao Cai, 16 people were kidnapped in order to take their internal organs on the Vietnam-China border area in Ha Giang Province in the first half of 2016.

The document of Si Ma Cai District police.

According to this document, the culprits were Chinese who often gathered in groups of 3 to 5 people and used cars without number plates.

The targeted victims were the elderly and children. The victims were kidnapped and brought to desolate areas for operations to take internal organs.

Lao Cai police told local people not to go outside alone. If they detect suspicious subjects, they were encouraged to report to the police.

Responding to the information released by Si Ma Cai District police, Colonel Ta Quang Huy, Deputy Director of Ha Giang Provincial Police Agency, has confirmed that the rumor about 16 people being kidnapped was incorrect.

"I was very shocked to hear this information," said Colonel Huy said. He said he had never heard about this in any report so he did not know the sources of information used by Si Ma Cai District police.

Huy said that Ha Giang police had checked the data and there was no such case occurring in Ha Giang this year.

The Ha Giang police official said he would report to the Ha Giang Provincial People's Committee about the case. Then, Ha Giang will ask Lao Cai Provincial Police Agency to explain the case. 

Colonel Le Van Canh, head of Consulting Office of the Ha Giang Police Department, told Vietnam Plus online newspaper that several kidnapping cases had been reported in the first six months of this year in Hà Giang, but the motive behind them was not harvesting of organs.

Last week, Si Ma Cai District’s Police Office issued the legal document 487/TB-CAH to warn local residents about a new type of crime in which people could be kidnapped and their organs harvested.

The document was widely shared via social networking sites, causing public concern.

Le Ha