841 arrested in 2nd Mekong anti-drug campaign

A total of 841 suspects has so far been arrested in an anti-drug campaign jointly launched by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand earlier this 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, second of its kind, was launched in Thailand on Jan. 15.

It has seen a total of 5,482 law enforcement personnel sent by the four countries, 512 boats patrol on the Mekong River and 839 operations conducted.

Law enforcement agencies from the four countries have joined hands in setting up checkpoints, combing through key villages involved in drugs, patrolling, gathering intelligence and catching suspects, among other operations.

Meng Jianzhu, a visiting senior Chinese security official, said at the campaign's command center that the Chinese government has firmly supported the campaign and will beef up financial and technological input.

Law enforcement 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, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and a special envoy of President Xi Jinping.

The first campaign was launched in southwest China's Yunnan Province on April 20, 2013 and ended on June 20, 2013.