YAOUNDE, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Forces of Cameroon National Gendarmerie have arrested 10 people in the country's North region on suspicion of being part of a major kidnapping ring, a gendarmerie official said on Wednesday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Serge Nguetna, commander of the Garoua gendarmerie group, told reporters that the suspects were arrested in Pitoa, a locality in the region notorious for abduction.

"The gendarmerie on a tipoff raided their den. We arrested 10 suspected kidnappers and they are still being screened as the investigation continues," Nguetna said in the North regional chief town of Garoua while presenting the suspects to the press.

He said the raid was part of an operation dubbed "Adano" which seeks to get rid of the kidnapping ring in the region which has seen a steady rise in kidnapping and demand for ransom since the start of the year.