Four-nation operation smashes drug ring
A joint operation by mainland, Thai, Myanmese and Laotian police has broken up an international drug-trafficking ring, resulting in the arrest of 70 suspected syndicate members and seizure of more than 700kg of illicit drugs.
A senior narcotics official announced yesterday in Beijing that the network was headed by a 35-year-old Yunnan native, but stretched across the borders of four countries.
Zhang Chongde, deputy secretary-general of the National Narcotics Control Commission, told the China-Asean drugs summit that last November Yunnan police seized 220kg of heroin from two teak-laden trucks originating in Myanmar.
The discovery prompted the immediate arrest of two suspects and the later detention of another 11 people in Guangdong, Ningxia and Gansu connected to two drug syndicates.
An investigation determined that Han Yongwan , 35, a dealer from Yunnan, planned and organised the trafficking and had long been involved in drug smuggling along the borders separating China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
Han and a mainland associate were two of seven people arrested on September 22 in Laos during a raid organised by authorities in the four countries.
Yunnan police also teamed up with their Myanmese counterparts last month to confiscate about 500kg of heroin to be distributed by Han's network.
Mr Zhang said that as a result, 'Han Yongwan's transnational drug-trafficking syndicate and networks covering several regions in China, Myanmar and Laos were destroyed'.
The China-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) co-operation conference ends tomorrow and will produce a joint declaration to improve co-operation in the fight against drugs in Southeast Asia.
