Myanmar sends back three fugitives to China

Myanmar law enforcement authorities handed over three fugitives to China on Wednesday night who were wanted for smuggling and trafficking offenses involving 2 metric tons of drugs, the Ministry of Public Security said.

They were Zhang Anlong, a 42-year-old man from Yunmeng county, Hubei province; Ma Wenxiang, a 37-year-old man from Pu'er, Yunnan province; and Yang Jinmei, a 45-year-old woman from Lincang, Yunnan.

Lin Huihuang, head of the drug investigation division of the ministry's Narcotics Control Bureau, said that after three consecutive days of work, police in Yangon, Myanmar, successfully tracked Yang on July 9 and captured her when she attempted to flee by car.

Yang told them she had fled from northern Myanmar to Yangon after being put on a wanted list by Chinese police and confessed to her crimes.

After consultations between the Chinese working group to Myanmar and the Myanmar law enforcement authorities, the Myanmar side dispatched a working team to the Lashio area on July 12.

Lin said that after a grueling 26-hour journey covering over 1,300 kilometers, the team arrived at the place where Zhang and Ma lived in Lashio on July 13. The area is a conflict zone with a complex mix of various forces.

After confirming the suspects' location, the team swiftly carried out the operation to capture the two men, he said.

Investigations revealed that the three suspects were all key members of an international drug trafficking network and had been fugitives abroad for many years, actively smuggling and trafficking drugs into China. They were involved in multiple major drug cases investigated by police in provinces such as Hunan, Hubei and Yunnan, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, with the total amount of drugs involved exceeding 2 tons.

On Dec 28, the ministry offered rewards for the capture of 10 major drug trafficking fugitives — including the three who were returned to China on Wednesday.

The capture of the three suspects marked another significant achievement in international law enforcement cooperation in the field of drug control between China and Myanmar, the ministry said.

Six of the 10 most wanted drug trafficking fugitives in northern Myanmar have now been captured and brought back to China for trial.

The ministry said that since 2020, public security authorities across the country have been cooperating with their counterparts in other nations to pursue fugitives who have been smuggling drugs into China, especially those in northern Myanmar. This has resulted in the apprehension of a large number of drug-related fugitives, sending a strong message to drug trafficking networks operating overseas, it said.

Police have called on drug traffickers to surrender themselves immediately to receive more lenient treatment. The ministry has also pledged to further strengthen international law enforcement cooperation and intensify efforts to capture fugitives overseas.