Drug baron seized under China-ROK joint crackdown

Chinese drug lord Cui Yongsen has been seized and taken back to China by police from the Republic of Korea (ROK) during a joint crackdown on transnational drug trafficking, China's Ministry of Public Security announced Monday.

This is another success under the drug-crackdown action initiated by China and 23 countries in July, according to the ministry.

Cui, head of a drug cartel based in northeast China's Jilin Province, was accused of smuggling a substantial amount of methamphetamine, known as ice, and opium from other countries and selling the drugs in China from 2009 to October 2010, sources with the Chinese ministry said.

Cui fled to ROK in January last year after five of his gang members were captured by local police.

The ministry provided relevant evidence of Cui's crimes to ROK police and began to search for the fugitive together with their Korean counterparts.

Cui had attempted to appeal for a political asylum in ROK to escape legal punishment, according to the ministry. Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu requested for Cui's capture in July during the minsiter's visit to ROK.

Cui was finally captured by ROK police at a construction site in Kwangju city on Aug. 9 and sent back to China on Aug. 18.

According to the ministry, police on the Chinese mainland have cracked 14 drug-related cases in cooperation with counterparts in the United States, Myanmar, Vietnam and Taiwan since the beginning of 2012.