City police have detained a man of East Asian origin for trying to smuggle a Chinese national out of the country through Pudong International Airport, the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration said yesterday.

The foreigner, identified by the surname Jin, was caught earlier this month when he was trying to smuggle an unemployed man surnamed Wang to a North American country. Wang was seeking employment overseas.

Jin bought an air ticket to North America using his passport, while Wang bought a ticket for Hong Kong. They then exchanged their boarding passes after emigration checks and tried to board their respective flights.

"A person's name and flight number shows up on the boarding cards, but they probably thought these wouldn't be checked carefully," said the administration's Xu Li.

The two men were caught at the boarding gate. There was no explanation how Wang intended to get past immigration in North America. Xu said a human trafficking gang offered Jin 30,000 yuan (US$4,389) to smuggle one person into North America.