China Daily Global Edition (USA)
NIA targets traffickers to defeat drug lords
Agency is determined to stamp out cross-border trade in Southwest China. Aybek Askhar reports from Baoshan, Yunnan.
If it had not been for a flat tire, Liu Yanlei would not have moved his car, loaded with more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine, from an underground parking lot.
In that event, he would have completed his sixth successful delivery.
“Liu was smart and a trustworthy deliveryman for the drug lords. Five successful deliveries had brought him a huge reputation, so when the signal of his car reappeared on my GPS (as he exited the parking lot), I knew it was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said An Xiaohua, an officer with the National Immigration Administration in the southwestern province of Yunnan, who had placed a tracking device on Liu’s car.
As he described the situation, An sucked in a lungful of cigarette smoke and tried to calm himself.
Even though the events happened two years ago, the 39-year-old veteran on the front line of China’s long war on drugs can still remember the adrenaline rush he felt back then.
An is vice-captain of an investigation team with the Border Control Detachment at Baoshan, a city in Yunnan. He has been dealing with border issues since he graduated from the Yunnan Police Officer Academy in 2004.
“We had been following the car since the suspect loaded the drugs at the border, and we had already set a tracking device in it. Our preliminary investigation showed that Liu was carrying a large quantity of drugs, so we needed to wait until the distributors came and then take them down together,” he said.
An’s team had been working on the case for nearly two years on the border between Baoshan and Myanmar, close to the Golden Triangle, Asia’s main opium-producing area.
Official statistics from the Yunnan authorities show that the province confiscated more than 35 metric tons of illegal drugs last year.
For decades, the province has topped the national table in terms of confiscation of narcotics.
There are no natural barriers on the 4,000-kilometer border, and the wooded mountains provide natural cover for the traffickers.
“Drug trafficking is a very profitable business. Once the drugs cross the border, the price rockets, and if they flow into the market at major cities, you can hardly imagine the price,” An said.
“But you can get a sense of the profits from the bonus Liu would have received — more than 1.5 million yuan ($230,000).”
The case came to light in early 2019 when the team learned that foreign drug lords would send a huge amount of meth to cities in
Hunan and Hubei provinces, and that the first handover would take place in the area around Baoshan.
Having been born and raised in a small village in Baoshan, An’s local knowledge made him the perfect candidate to lead the task force.
However, he knew the case would not be easy and he would have to sacrifice something. As usual, that “something” would be time with his family.
“Dangerous situations, such as facing a firefight, rarely happen because China has such strict regulations on gun control, but it is still hard to convince my wife that I will be all right, especially as I usually only manage to return home once a month,” he said.
An is the father of two boys, but most of the time, his family responsibilities fall on his wife’s shoulders.
“It’s not just me — most of our officers have the same experience of caring for our families via video calls. We know it’s not fair to them, but if you saw or felt the same things we did, you would realize that somebody needs to step up and do something,” he said.
‘Vicious circle’
An is a member of the Yi people, an ethnic group in the mountains of Southwest China. When he was young, many Yi were mired in poverty. As they faced obstacles accessing education, illegal narcotics became prevalent among them.
“Once people become addicted to drugs and find themselves unable to pay for their fix, they are likely to get involved in the business. That creates a vicious circle from which almost no addict can escape,” An said.
His understanding of the nature of the crime makes An more determined to end the trade. He does not see himself as a savior, but as a man of the law who believes that officers such as himself form a bottom line that can prevent young people like Liu passing the point of no return.
“The intelligence we received during border scouting missions showed that Liu was only in his 20s. People his age are usually students, ready to open a new chapter of their life, rather than criminal suspects targeted by police,” An said.
Week of waiting
Drug delivery schedules are always random. After the team had waited about a week, the tracker on Liu’s car indicated movement.
An and his colleagues followed the signal to Pu’er, a city about 500 kilometers from Baoshan.
However, the signal suddenly disappeared as they entered the city.
The last reference point was a residential area, so the team searched the neighborhood for two hours. Liu’s car was nowhere to be seen.
The officers understood that if they could not find the car, all their efforts would have been in vain. Just as they began to feel a little frustrated, though, the signal reappeared.
An knew he could not miss the opportunity, so he immediately launched a raid and apprehended three suspects, including Liu, at a garage where they were trying to repair the punctured tire.
“Liu told me if it had not been for the flat tire, they would have remained hidden until a truck came to collect the drugs. Even if he had been caught later, we would not have found anything compromising in his car,” An said.
“Because he felt guilty, Liu told us that another part of the shipment, about 200 kg of meth, had been sent to other destinations.”
Following the information Liu provided, An and his team traveled to Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, and seized 30 kg of the drug. The rest of the consignment was unearthed in Hengyang, a city in Hunan province, as a result of cooperation with local police.
“It was the biggest case in which I have taken part. The seizure of more than 300 kg of meth also made it the biggest case since the NIA was established in 2018,” An said.
To An’s surprise, Liu’s successful deliveries had followed a simple pattern: the drugs were left in a removal van or an excavator after being delivered to the distribution point in China.
The investigation, which lasted 19 months, netted 178 suspects. Liu was sentenced to life imprisonment while seven of his peers were sentenced to death and executed.
Meanwhile, An was awarded the highest medal an immigration officer can receive.
“I have received much praise and many honors. Sometimes, I feel those medals just prove that the situation is still serious. If we let our guard down, more families will be broken and more young people like Liu will turn to crime,” he said.