HONG KONG, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong police Thursday confirmed that its national security department arrested 11 people across Hong kong on suspicion of assisting offenders.

According to local media, the arrested include eight males and three females, aged between 18 and 72. They were suspected of helping 12 Hong Kong residents who had been arrested earlier over absconding.

On Aug. 23, 2020, marine police from Guangdong province seized a vessel suspected of illegally crossing the border in the waters under the jurisdiction of the mainland. The 12 Hong Kong residents aboard were arrested on suspicion of illegally crossing the border.

On Dec. 30, 2020, Yantian District People's Court in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, sentenced 10 of them who were adults at the time of committing the crime to prison terms of seven months to three years.

A notice of the case issued by the People's Procuratorate of Yantian District showed that it had decided not to prosecute the two juveniles who pleaded guilty and accepted the punishment for illegally crossing the border.