Major busts at the Mukang border checkpoint

1. Aug 17: an SUV traveling from Ruili, a city on the border with Myanmar, to Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, was discovered to be carrying 35 grams of methamphetamine in a water drainage channel, plus 31 kilograms of opium and about 4 kg of opium poppy seeds in the spare tire. The driver was found to have concealed nearly 16 kg of opium and 5 kg of methamphetamine at his home.

2. Jan 29 last year: A truck stopped on the road from Ruili to Baoshan, Yunnan, was found to be transporting 10 kg of heroin in a batch of evergreen wisteria, known in China as Ji Xue Teng ("chicken's blood vine"), a herb widely used as a blood tonic.

3. June 16, 2007: Sixty-six packages of heroin and 11 of methamphetamine were found in 13 industrial batteries in a truck en route from Ruili to Kunming. In addition, approximately 23 kg of heroin and about 5 kg of methamphetamine were seized in Ruili, Kunming and Chongqing, a municipality in Southwest China.

4. March 31, 2007: Eight people were arrested after 56 kg of drugs and 2.4 million yuan ($361,000) in cash were impounded at drug dens in Ruili and Kunming. The arrests followed the discovery of 56 kg of heroin hidden in a truck transporting frozen fish.