One of the country's most-wanted suspected drug traffickers was
apprehended in Myanmar and returned to China, thanks to successful
cooperation between law enforcement departments on both sides of
the border, said a police spokesperson on Monday.
The Ministry of Public Security will fulfill its commitment to
reward the Myanmar residents who reported Ma's whereabouts and
contributed to his capture 50,000 yuan (US$46045.9), said Yang
Fengrui, director of the ministry's Narcotics Control Bureau, at a
news conference.
Ma, a Chinese national from Dali Prefecture in southwest China's
Yunnan Province, was among the top five names on a list of drug
trafficking suspects announced last November.
The ministry offered a total reward of 380,000 yuan (US$45,949)
for clues about the five's whereabouts. The other four, Liu
Zhaohua, Luo Youwen, Qiu Heshui and Liu Shaotong, are still at
large.
Ma, caught on January 8, confessed that he had smuggled 60
kilograms of heroin five times between 1993 and 2001.
In March of 2001, Ma tried to smuggle 21 kilograms of heroin to
the southern city of Guangzhou. His accomplice was caught, but he
escaped and has been on the run for three years.
Yang also revealed that police are on the trail of Liu Zhaohua,
another major suspect with a reward of 200,000 yuan (US$24,184) on
his head.
In recent years, cooperation has been stepped up with Myanmar,
Thailand and Laos by strengthening intelligence exchanges and
helping them train police.
From the 1990s, China has also helped neighboring countries
replace opium poppies with crops such as rice, sugarcane and
rubber, as a way of reducing drug supply.
(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2005)