Thirty-six suspects are held under escort by police at Xichang railway station, Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province and then they are sent to prefecture's public security bureau on Monday. [Photo/CFP]

Police rescued 15 babies and nabbed 78 suspects after they broke up a child-trafficking ring in East China's Shandong province who were suspected of kidnapping babies in Southwest China's Sichuan province and selling them to Shandong.

The ring was organized by Hama Erji, a resident of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan province, the prefecture's police authority said. Thirty-six suspects are from the same region. The suspects sold the infants to people in Shandong province, according to the police authority.

The ring was in the crosshairs of the Public Security Ministry in June last year and four investigative teams were dispatched to Shandong province where the ring was busted after two-month investigations, the police said.

Blood samples from the babies were taken at the local police station on Monday morning for DNA comparison. The police are investigating the case.