Chongming police and fire authority checkillegalfireworks and firecrackers boxes discovered.

Four suspects have been detained after 1,170 boxes of illegal fireworks and firecrackers were discovered in an orange garden in suburban Shanghai, police said yesterday.

The illegal fireworks, kept in a hut in the garden on Changxing Island, were seized last week when Chongming police raided the property.

The suspects purchased the illegal fireworks in other provinces, transported them into Shanghai and sold to people withoutpossessing any business permit, investigation revealed.

They hidillegal fireworks under mineral water cases in the hut, police said. The suspects could face criminal charges for illegally keeping explosive materials, policeadded.

Since December 1 last year, Shanghai police have detained 36 suspects and seized 4,810 boxes of illegal fireworks and firecrackers in 76 different cases, it said.