NANCHANG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Police in China's Jiangxi Province have cracked down on a wildlife smuggling ring and confiscated more than 3,000 animals, local forestry au said Wednesday.

Forestry police in Pingxiang City stopped a truck carrying apples on an expressway on Dec. 24, 2017, discovering that under the boxes of apples were around 100 frozen animal bodies.

Police confirmed that all the animals were provincial-level or state-level protected deer species.

The suspect said she bought them in Xinyu City in Jiangxi and planned to sell them in Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, hoping to cover the smell of the bodies with the scent of apples.

An investigation team was formed which discovered a wild animal smuggling network stretching across the country.

As of May 10, a total of 42 suspects were caught and more than 3,000 protected wild animal bodies were seized nationwide.