A court in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Thursday heard a
cross-border drug-trafficking case involving 70 suspects and nearly
800 kilograms of heroin.
Kunming Intermediate People's Court tried Han Yongwan, Duan Biwu
and Han Qifan, the alleged ringleaders of the 70-strong syndicate
which included Chinese as well as Myanmar and Laos nationals.
It is not clear how long the trial will last because the
defendants revoked their confessions on the first day, the court
said.
Han Yongwan, 37, the head of the syndicate, is widely regarded
as one of the most dangerous drug lords in northern Myanmar and
China.
Originally from Longchuan County in Yunnan Province, Han has
allegedly been engaged in trafficking 775 kilograms of drugs since
2001 in the border areas between China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand,
a region known as the Golden Triangle of drug-production, the court
heard.
Investigations into Han's activities began in November 2004 when
police in Yunnan seized 206 kilograms of heroin in two
teakwood-loaded trucks coming from Myanmar.
A year later, the police authorities from China, Myanmar, Laos
and Thailand destroyed Han's drug-trafficking network, seizing 383
kilograms of heroin, 36 guns, six rocket launchers, 33 grenades,
1,586 bullets and two transmitter-receivers in Myanmar.
Han was arrested on September 22, 2005 in Huaphan Province of
Laos and repatriated back to China.
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2007)