SHANGHAI, May 22 -- SIX alleged people smugglers with "kind hearts" and empty pockets are in a whole mess of trouble.

And mess is the operative word.

The would-be criminal impresarios were allegedly promised up to US$770,000 to smuggle 22 Chinese citizens into the United States via ship from Shanghai. Their plan came spectacularly unstuck on three fronts:

They were caught.

They didn't receive a cent in cash, but relied on a bizarre honor system where they were promised the lucrative amount when the ship stowaways, mostly friends and relatives, arrived in the US.

They now face the prospect of a life behind bars.

The comedy of errors began to unfold yesterday in the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

The stowaways and the alleged smugglers are all from Fujian Province. The price agreed upon was US$35,000 for each stowaway. They arrived in America after two weeks at sea in a closed container, prosecutors said.

They walked out of the container in the port of Seattle on April 5 last year - into the waiting arms of police and Customs officials.

The alleged smugglers had prepared 600 bottled drinks, 200 packs of biscuits, quilts and three battery-operated electric fans for the 14-day journey on a Rotterdam-registered cargo ship. A battery-operated saw was also provided as an escape mechanism.

Stowaways told police that the gang leader was a Fujian Province native, Chen Youxiong, 35, who hasn't had a regular job since 1995.

Prosecutors allege that Chen organized three friends, He Yueyan, Zhang Hua and Cai Yihao, for the caper in August 2005.

Chen allegedly allowed the three men to recruit stowaways and demanded US$30,000 for each one, with US$5,000 for incidentals.

It took more than six months to organize the 22 stowaways.

In March last year, Chen brought the stowaways, 18 men and four women ranging in age from 18 to 41, to Shanghai. Prosecutors allege that at that time, two female suspects, Huang Jing and Li Hong, joined the gang. They were the girlfriends of Cai and Zhang.

They found a cargo company and told officials they wanted to transport a container with common products to America. The departure date was March 23, 2006.

According to criminal law, people smugglers face a maximum sentence of life in jail.