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The three HK residents were seized in a global operation with American police

Three suspected ringleaders of a global drug-smuggling syndicate are today facing extradition from Hong Kong to the US.

The probable expulsion follows the dismantling of one of world's largest crime rings in a covert operation by a taskforce formed by mainland and US police.

Narcotics Bureau Chief Superintendent Ip Lau-chuen yesterday said five Hong Kong residents had been arrested - three in the city and two in Shenzhen - during the 20-month investigation, codenamed 'Operation 1-2-5'.

American and Chinese officials have praised the operation as 'the first and most successful' joint drug investigation carried out by the two countries.

'Three people are facing extradition,' Mr Ip said, referring to the Hong Kong arrests. But he was reluctant to elaborate on the extradition details, saying the 'legal process was ongoing'.

It is understood at least five other ringleaders are still being sought in relation to the US$100 million drug-trafficking case.

The two men arrested in Shenzhen would be tried on the mainland, Mr Ip said.

'They were caught at a factory being used to produce methamphetamine, or Ice, and we believe it was producing up to 500kg of the drug each month,' he said.

'This was certainly the most successful case I have seen so far in terms of a joint operation.

'Our counterparts in China have not experienced this sort of level of co-operation before and it is seen as a good step in the ongoing co-operation with agencies from all over the world to fight drug trafficking.'

Mr Ip said his office had worked closely with the mainland Public Security Bureau and the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

The partnership resulted in a series of May 16 raids in various parts of the world and the indictment of 25 people in a Manhattan court for  allegedly smuggling more than 680kg of heroin from Southeast Asia to the US - via  the mainland and Hong Kong - since 2000.

Agents in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and India made the nearly simultaneous arrests to dismantle a  network of heroin suppliers, traffickers and distributors.

Among those arrested was the group's alleged leader and former Hong Kong drug lord, Kin-cheung Wong, also known as 'Fatman'.

He allegedly ran the organisation from Fujian province with three partners, who were also indicted. Chinese law enforcement officials referred to the four as the 'untouchables' because it was believed they would never be caught.

Their operations are alleged to have spanned the globe, with the organisation's wholesale distributors selling heroin to retail cells in New York, North Carolina, Florida, Canada and elsewhere.

According to the indictment, once the heroin from Myanmar arrived in China, usually across the border in Yunnan province, other members of the ring transported it in trucks to Fujian.

Other ring members, including some in Hong Kong, shipped the drugs to the US, where it was delivered to wholesalers and retailers.



Suspected drug lords face US extradition