SHANGHAI, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Police in China's eastern municipality of Shanghai have busted a huge network selling unlicensed firecrackers half a month ahead of the Lunar New Year.

　　Police seized more than 5,300 crates of fireworks and firecrackers from a rural warehouse and a cigarette shop in the city proper and detained 15 suspects on Saturday night, said the public security bureau of Baoshan District.

　　The gang was accused of buying explosives from nearby provinces and operating a website to sell them in the city.

　　Setting off fireworks during the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 8 this year, is a long tradition in China, with the superstitious believing that the noise scares away evil spirits.

　　However, the practice has been increasingly blamed for contributing to the country's smog problem and for causing fires and injuries, prompting many cities to limit fireworks displays and allow only licensed fireworks to be sold in franchised retail outlets.

　　Production of illegal fireworks, often in rural workshops with scarce protective measures, has also been behind a spate of deadly blasts in recent years. In July last year, 21 people were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker warehouse in north China's Hebei Province.