23 arrests in southwest China drug busts

Police in a small county on the China-Myanmar border claim to have cracked seven major drug trafficking cases and seized more than 220 kg of narcotics over the past month.

The intercepted narcotics included 186 kg of methamphetamine, 9.4 kg of heroin and 27 kg of opium, the public security bureau of Menglian County in southwest China's Yunnan Province said in a press release on Saturday.

Twenty-three suspected drug dealers were arrested, it said.

In a single case cracked in mid April, 120 kg of narcotics were seized.

On April 8, police in Menglian County stopped a man and a woman from transporting 26 kg of methamphetamine to central China's Hubei Province.

In collaboration with police in the neighboring Guizhou Province, anti-drug authorities in Menglian seized 9.4 kg of heroin and arrested 10 dealers on April 18.

The cases are under further investigation, the statement said.

Cross-border drug trafficking is rampant in Menglian of Pu'er City, which has a population of about 130,000.

Source: XINHUA