Southeast Asia anti-drug drive nabs 841

A total of 841 suspects have so far been arrested in an anti-drug campaign jointly launched by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand earlier in the year.

Police have cracked 590 drug-related cases in the Mekong river basin, and seized 70.6 kg of heroin, 1.2 kg of opium, 4.12 million methamphetamine tablets and 37.5 kg of methamphetamine, since the multinational campaign, the second of its kind, was launched in Thailand Jan 15, Xinhua reported Saturday.

The campaign has seen the deployment of a total of 5,482 law enforcement personnel from the four countries, 512 boats patrolling on the Mekong river and 839 operations being conducted.

Law enforcement agencies from the four countries had joined hands in setting up checkpoints, combing through key villages, patrolling, gathering intelligence and nabbing suspects.

Meng Jianzhu, a senior Chinese security official, said at the campaign's command centre that the Chinese government firmly supported the campaign and would beef up financial and technological inputs.

Security agencies of the four nations should continue to expand the scope of cooperation and elevate their cooperative law enforcement mechanism to a new level, said Meng, who was a special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The first such multinational anti-drug campaign was launched in southwest China's Yunnan province April 20, 2013 and ended June 20, 2013.

The Mekong river, which flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is a major trade route in southeast Asia.