Suspect stands trial on Mekong killings(2)

Core member arrested

In November, Chinese police received intelligence that a core member of the gang was trafficking drugs in the border area between China and Myanmar, along the Mekong River, said Liu.

They immediately notified the Myanmar police, who arrested the man. Under interrogation, the suspect confessed that a man called Yi Lai, the gang's No 3, had told him that the October murders were committed by Naw Kham's group.

Chinese police cooperated closely with their Laotian counterparts, and in December 2011, Yi Lai was arrested as he traveled on a bus to northwestern Laos, said Hu.

He confessed that Naw Kham's gang had colluded with renegade Thai soldiers to plan and commit the murders. The confession also provided the investigating team with further information about key members of the gang, its organizational structure, its whereabouts and planned activities, he added.

"After Yi Lai was detained, the gang moved to the high, dense forests of Myanmar, rarely moving or communicating with the outside world," said Zhao Chengfeng, a senior officer from the anti-drugs department of the Public Security Ministry and director of the special work team that was sent to investigate in Myanmar.

Naw Kham escapes

On Dec 6, police conducted a sweep of the villages along the Mekong River and discovered that Naw Kham was hiding in a village in Boqiao province in Laos. Chinese police cooperated with the Laotians to surround the village and Naw Kham's wife was arrested, along with key gang members. Firearms, ammunition and landmines were seized in the raid.

However, with the help of some villagers, Naw Kham escaped in a boat he paddled across the river to Myanmar and the authorities' first attempt to arrest him failed.

"Because of the dense forest and complex terrain in Myanmar, we couldn't search for Naw Kham, but we found one Myanmar suspect, who had a close connection with him," explained Ma Jun, a police officer from Dali prefecture public security bureau in Yunnan province who participated in the arrest.

The suspect gave police the location of the gang's new camp, deep in the forests of Myanmar.

"A dozen tents were set up and more than 40 armed men guarded the campsite," Ma said. "In the daytime, only one small path led to the camp, but at night it was closed off with fallen trees and the surrounding grassland was covered with landmines."

"In all other directions, there were virgin forests packed with armed guards. We risked losing our lives at any time," said Ma.

"Although they were hiding deep in the forest, a farm supplied them with fresh beef and fruit. Naw Kham continued to order his gang members to commit crimes and charge protection money along the Mekong River," he added.

In February, a joint Chinese-Myanmar police operation raided the campsite. However, Naw Kham again evaded arrest after a sentry warned him of the raid, said Ma.

On April 20, the gang's second-in-command, San Kang, was arrested by Myanmar police on the border between Thailand and Myanmar and five days later Naw Kham himself was finally detained in Laos.

After protracted negotiations, he was formally transferred to Chinese police in Beijing by the Laotian authorities.

By May 10, more than 50 gang members had surrendered to the police in Laos and Myanmar and the gang was finally eradicated.

Successful operation

"The murders happened overseas. All the investigations, arrests and evidence collection were carried out outside China, and all the suspects were foreigners. That's unprecedented in the history of the Chinese police," said Liu.

Chinese police actively cooperated with their counterparts in Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, and the Public Security Ministry established a special investigation team that sent working groups to the three countries to assist with the investigations.

More than 200 Chinese police participated in the cases, said Li Zhuqun, a senior police officer from the international cooperation department of the ministry.

In addition, the Chinese special investigation teams shared information with the three countries, providing details of Naw Kham's group, activities of his key members, and clues to provide intelligence support, according to Li.

When the Chinese police were limited in their ability to operate outside China, they cooperated with the police forces from Laos and Myanmar to aid a joint cleanup operation and provide an obvious deterrent, he said.

"We sent police to Laos and Myanmar to carry out interrogations, and exchanged evidence with Thailand to obtain 17 copies of the murder report, which ran to 480 pages and 200 photos, to further complete the chain of evidence," said Li.

"We offered to provide a total of 600 pages of evidence to the Thais to prove that several renegade Thai soldiers colluded with Naw Kham's group to plan and carry out the murders. That strongly helped the joint attack on the gang and the investigation into the soldiers, " he added.

"The successful cracking of the case is a strong and successful example of the Chinese government's right to protect the legitimate interests and rights of Chinese citizens overseas," Liu said.

"The nine Thai military suspects are under detention in Thailand and will face charges of murder and disposing of the bodies. They will be tried in their local court in October," said Sun Shaobin, a senior officer from the anti-drug department of the Public Security Ministry.

"Shipping on the Mekong River has gradually returned to normal, with 81 Chinese cargo vessels on the river, and trade and the exchange of personnel have resumed," said Liu.