Duo caught at Beijing airport charged, face death penalty

Prosecutors have charged two men with drug smuggling after they were caught collecting paintings stuffed with almost 2 kilograms of narcotics at Beijing Capital International Airport.

Xia and Gao, both from Hubei province, are accused of being part of a gang that attempted to traffic "magu" from Myanmar to the capital.

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Police snared the duo last December when they arrived to pick up a package of 10 landscape paintings flown from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province. Roughly 20,000 pills - 1.8 kilograms - were stashed between the works, Mirror Evening Newspaper reported on Sunday.

The haul stopped at Beijing Capital International Airport had a reported value of about 1 million yuan.

Security officers in the capital were alerted about the suspicious package on Dec 2 after eagle-eyed technicians at Yunnan's Xishuang Banna spotted the contraband as it passed through the X-ray machines.

Police were unable to immediately track the sender so allowed the paintings to continue on their journey in the hope of catching the receivers. Two detectives from Yunnan were also assigned to protect the cargo en route.

On arrival - the flight landed at about midnight - the package was whisked away by Beijing security staff disguised as cleaners, so as not to tip off potential suspects.

According to the postal details, the parcel was intended for a 23-year-old man called Xin. Using the identity and cell phone numbers provided, investigations showed he was a drug-addicted ex-convict.

However, Xin was later ruled out as a suspect after it was proved his personal details had been stolen and used by the real traffickers.

As the painting were marked for collection, police continued to stake out the airport and eventually captured Xia and Gao on the morning of Dec 4. Detectives reportedly recognized the duo because of the frequent contact they had with Xin.

Xia, who was wearing a black coat, arrived with his partner in a taxi. He went to the collection point alone. Police moved in quickly after Xia signed the release form, with his signature later proved to be a match for the owner of the drugs. Gao was detained in the cab.

Officers opened the paintings on the spot and found each painting contained 10 plastic bags of pink pills.

Xia confessed that the drug was bought in Myanmar and that the duo intended to transport the package to Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, to sell on. They decided to send the paintings first to Beijing due to the tight security checks in Wuhan.

They confessed to stealing Xin's identity and also admitted to police how they tried a "dry run" the month before the trafficking attempt, sending a shabby flower basket from Kunming to Beijing.

Xia and Gao are now waiting for a public prosecution. They face a fixed-term imprisonment of 15 years, life imprisonment or even death, as well as confiscation of property, according to the country's Criminal Law.