‘You are a hero’: Yunnan’s sole female anti-drug chief champions women in drug war
Li believes male and female officers perform equally vital roles; she is determined to ensure no drug criminals escape her watch
An anti-narcotics police officer in China who has been working on the frontline without obscuring her identity for the past nine years, incurring more than 10 injuries, has won massive admiration from the mainland public.
Li Xiangli is the only female police station chief in Yunnan province, located in the southwestern part of the country.
She and her 47 colleagues are stationed at a checkpoint in Yongren county on the border between Yunnan and Sichuan province, where their main duty is to examine the vehicles passing through on the highways.
Li was put in the spotlight in late June by the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald to observe the annual International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.
Yunnan is China’s frontline in the fight against narcotics as it borders the notorious Golden Triangle areas in Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand.
The route connecting Yunnan and its northern neighbour Sichuan is vital for transporting drugs to the hinterland of China, making Li and her team’s work challenging.
An average of 20,000 vehicles pass through their checkpoint every day, the report said.