Maritime police captured five Chinese fishing boats for operating illegally in the nation's territorial waters off the southwestern coast Friday afternoon.

The five Chinese boats were found fishing 22 miles south of Manje Island in Sinan County at 4:00 p.m. and they were tugged to Mokpo for investigation.

The names of the Chinese fishing boats were not immediately made known.

The police seized the boats after a pursuit operation for more than an hour, using patrol boats a helicopter.

The Chinese fishing boats captured for violating the territorial waters so far this year number 12, compared with the 20 seized in all of last year.