China’s infamous ‘Aunt Mei’ arrested after decade-long hunt for child trafficker

2026.03.21 10:20 Police sketches of alleged child trafficker Aunt Mei have regularly appeared on Chinese social media since 2017, with state media calling on the public to “remember this face”. Photo: Weibo A shadowy go-between known as “Aunt Mei” allegedly involved in a notorious child trafficking case has been arrested, according to police in southern China. Police in the city of Guangzhou said the woman, surnamed Xie, had been identified last year, and the case was still under investigation, state media reported on Saturday. The reports did not specify when the arrest was made. For years, police were aware an intermediary had been involved in the trafficking case, but Aunt Mei remained at large because they were unable to identify her. The woman allegedly brokered the sale of nine boys in Guangdong province from 2003 to 2005. A major development in the case came in early 2016, when police arrested five suspects. Police said the lead suspect, Zhang Weiping, confessed that the children had been trafficked through an intermediary, nicknamed Aunt Mei. In 2018, Zhang and another gang member were sentenced to death for kidnapping children, two others were sentenced to life imprisonment and a fifth person was sentenced to 10 years in prison. All of the children who had been abducted were found and reunited with their families between 2019 and 2024, according to media reports. One of the victims, Shen Cong, made headlines nationwide when he reunited with his parents in March 2020, ending a 15-year search by his family. Police said the boy, who was two years old when taken from his home, was sold to another family in a different city soon after he was abducted. Aunt Mei gained infamy on Chinese social media, where she was the subject of a years-long manhunt. In 2017, police released a portrait of the woman to the public for the first time with a reward for tips that might help with the investigation. An updated portrait was made public in 2019, and police at the time said

原文链接: 南华早报