Two Chinese Cargo Ships attacked on the Mekong River.. 11 Chinese dead

lostsoul said:

LOL. The Economist with a ANTI China bias.

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China to start patrols along Mekong River with neighboring countries
An update

China to start patrols along Mekong River with neighboring countries
English.news.cn 2011-11-26 19:10:19

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Joint police patrols along the Mekong River will kick off in mid December to restore security after a deadly attack to Chinese ships in October.

Chinese police will start patrols along the river with Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, said a statement from the Ministry of Public Security here Saturday.

No exact date was given, but the first joint patrol will be carried out before Dec. 15, said the statement, issued after a ministerial meeting of four countries held in Beijing.

Police from the four will work together to restore shipping and guarantee security along the river, the statement said.

Shipping on the Mekong River has been suspended since two cargo ships were attacked on Oct. 5, resulting in the murder of 13 Chinese sailors.

A headquarters for the initiative will be founded in China and there will be a coordination office in each of the other three countries. They will be linked by a round-the-clock communication mechanism, the statement said.

China will assist Laos and Myanmar police in terms of training and equipment, the statement said.

Police departments of the four countries will also set up a coordination team to work out more security measures along the Mekong River, it added.
Editor: Zhang Xiang

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Chinese, Burmese ships attacked on Mekong River

By Zhang Ming'ai
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, January 6, 2012

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Four Chinese cargo ships and one Burmese patrol ship were attacked on the Mekong River on Jan. 4, river police in charge of security on the Mekong River in north and northeast Thailand told People's Daily.

Police force from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand launches joint patrol along the Mekong River in Guanlei Port in Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Dec. 10, 2011.

Police force from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand launch joint patrol along the Mekong River in Guanlei Port in Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Dec. 10, 2011. [Sina.com]

Quoting a police report, an officer said that the Myanmar patrol ship and Chinese cargo ships near a Burmese dock were attacked by armed assailants in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The report went on to state that the armed assailants fired M79 rockets at the ships, with the first rocket falling in the river and the second exploding near the patrol ship. Due to low lighting conditions at the time of the incident, the patrol ship was unable to determine the source of the attack and subsequently could not offer a meaningful armed response.

The police report concluded that the incident has greatly affected shipping services on the Mekong River.

Although no Chinese ships were hit in the attack, crew members expressed concerns over security on the river.

Shipping services were restored on the Mekong last December after their suspension following the deaths of 13 Chinese sailors in cargo ship attacks on the river on Oct. 5, 2011.

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Attacker of Chinese ships held in LaosBy Zha Minjie (Shanghai Daily)13:25, April 28, 2012

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Infamous Myanmar drug trafficker Naw Kham, whose men are said to have repeatedly attacked Chinese sailors and ships on the Mekong River, has been caught in Laos, just days after being placed on Thailand's most-wanted list.

Thailand's Channel 3 TV station said yesterday that Laotian authorities had told their Thai counterparts of the arrest on Thursday. The report said Thai officials had traveled to Laos to confirm his identity.

Naw Kham leads a private militia that for the past five years has terrorized crews of vessels sailing a narrow stretch of the Mekong between Laos and Myanmar.

China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand began carrying out joint security operations to pursue "criminal organizations" operating on the Mekong River after 13 Chinese sailors were killed there last October.

Chinese security officials said criminal activities on the river had increased in recent years, with extortion, robberies and shootings becoming more frequent.

Naw Kham was believed to be the mastermind behind the killings last October and a reward of 2 million baht (US$65,000) was offered for his capture.

Last Friday, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung said the narcotics board was offering 12 million baht in reward money for the capture of 25 drug dealers, including three from Myanmar.

The 2 million baht on Naw Kham's head was double that offered for any of the others.

Naw Kham's organization, armed and about 400 strong, is a major force in the "Golden Triangle," an opium-producing area which overlaps the mountains of Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

It first hit the headlines in February 2008 when a Chinese patrol boat was attacked and three Chinese police officers injured.

In April last year, the group released 13 Chinese it had kidnapped after an US$8.3 million ransom was paid.

The river, a major trade route, is a dangerous waterway where drug dealing and weapons smuggling are rampant.

Shipping services were halted after the October killings.

Water transport on the river resumed after the first joint patrol last December.

Many ship owners and businessmen said they were reluctant to go back to the area after the October attack.

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plawolf said:

From the BBC article, it certainly sounds like a right old mess of an area, but it would appear that this was a particularly brutal incident even by the abysmal standards of the Mekong River.

I also find it interesting that there was a reference to a gun fight and police seizing the boats. Given the unusual savagery and completely unnecessary execution style killings, as well as the handcuffs on one of the dead, I do seriously wonder if this was a case of especially brutal drug dealers or a spectacularly botched police operation.

Normally, if you went to the effort of tying up and blindfolding your captives, you are not planning on killing them or else you would have just killed them straight away and saved yourself the extra hassle. Blindfolding is an especially strong indication that the captors do not want to just kill the captives as there would be no concern about what the captives might see if you intended to kill them all alone.

I think China is playing the best card it can at the moment - economics. Suspension of all Chinese shipping is going to hit a lot of people hard in Thailand, especially if it lasts any length of time. Nothing gets action like hitting vested interests in their wallets. Although the risk is always that the local police will just round up some scapegoats to execute to 'resolve' the situation and the real culprits are never brought to justice and are free to do this kind of savage act again.

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22 September 2012 Last updated at 06:23 GMT

Burmese warlord 'admits murdering sailors' in China

A suspected Burmese warlord and five other men have admitted murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong river at a trial in China, state media report.

Two Chinese cargo ships with 13 dead crew members were discovered on the Thai side of the river in October.

Naw Kham is believed to be one of the most powerful warlords in the Golden Triangle of Thailand, Laos and Burma.

Operating in a lawless region known for drugs and smuggling, he was regarded as untouchable for more than a decade.

However, in April he was captured in Burma and was taken the following month to China along with the five other men on Chinese charges of murder, drug-trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking.

The court in Kunming will announce the sentences against the six at a later date.

Chinese pressure forced the authorities in the other three countries to act, the BBC's South-East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, reports from Bangkok.

However, much about this case is still unclear, our correspondent adds.

Nine Thai soldiers have also been accused of involvement in the killings and their case is still under investigation.

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Manhunt for deadly drug kingpin
Global Times | 2013-2-19 1:13:00
By Liu Chang


"Catch him alive." This was the order from the Chinese authorities, given to a special taskforce set up to investigate the October 2011 killing of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River, according to the group's leader Liu Yuejin.

Liu, 54, the director of the Ministry of Public Security's anti-drug bureau, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview about the team's experiences investigating the murder case. Despite having been a police officer for 30 years, Liu said the Mekong River case seemed to be an impossible mission at first.

It was the first time that Chinese police were conducting a manhunt for criminals who were all foreigners based overseas. Chinese police knew little of the suspect Naw Kham when they received the case. The only information they had was a photo of Naw Kham from 20 years earlier, and that Naw Kham was an armed gang leader in the Golden Triangle.

Some analysts had even said the hunt for Naw Kham could be as difficult as the hunt for Bin Laden. Chinese police needed to delve into the criminal underworld to find him.

Naw Kham, the leader of the largest armed gang in the Golden Triangle along the Mekong River, was finally arrested and sentenced to death in China. Liu said that this sent a clear message around the world that the interests of Chinese citizens overseas and the Chinese State could not be violated.

A killer emerges

From 2008, Chinese police began to receive reports of murders along the Mekong River. Already, 16 Chinese had been killed and six injured.

"At that time, we could not find out who was responsible," Liu said.

The truth became clearer after Naw Kham's gang and a small number of Thai soldiers hijacked two cargo ships on the Mekong River, the Huaping and Yuxing 8, and murdered the 13 Chinese sailors on board, on October 5, 2011.

The Chinese foreign ministry released details of the case on October 10, 2011. On October 13, China communicated to the governments of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar the Chinese government's determination to solve the case.

Fighting back

"We heard rumors that Naw Kham controlled the waterways of the Golden Triangle, and assumed drug traffickers in the area would be in contact with his gang," Liu said.

The first step was to target a drug trafficker in the northern part of Myanmar, who was part of the network. The drug trafficker was lured into China and arrested.

From him, Chinese police tracked down a low-level gang figure, Yan Xiangzai, who traveled to northern Myanmar every two weeks. Chinese police cooperated with local authorities to catch Yan on his boat.

After catching Yan, Chinese police expected to have to bring him back to China in disguise. "Police had to face two different risks: the gangsters of Naw Kham and the foreign police forces who did not know the truth," Liu said.

By the end of 2011, Chinese police had compiled profiles of various gang members. They knew that the top leader was Naw Kham, followed with his lieutenants Sang Kang, Yi Lai and Weng Mie.

They also knew that the gang's lair was Sam Puu Island on the Mekong River, and about 100 armed criminals patrolled its banks, profiting from drugs and extortion.

Chinese police first identified and caught Yi as he was driving away from Vientiane, Laos.

Yi confessed that Naw Kham plotted the murder of the Chinese sailors, and that he had ordered them to "kill all the people on the boats." The gang was angry they hadn't protection fees and believed the two boats had been expropriated by the Myanmar military to attack them.

Twists in the case

During the search, Naw Kham vanished at least three times just as the Chinese police were closing in. Liu said that this was largely because the Chinese police were limited in what they could do overseas. They had to launch appeals before undertaking operations and cooperate with local police.

But Naw Kham had lived in the Golden Triangle for many years and sometimes locals would aid him.

At the end of 2011, Chinese police located Naw Kham at a village by the Mekong River in Boqiao Province in Laos, the hometown of one of Naw Kham's mistresses.

Chinese and local police encircled the village, but some local officials and villagers obstructed them. "We hit a stalemate. Police were not allowed to enter the village. Even though the local police head was with us, provincial officials were on the other side," Liu said.

"The deadlock lasted hours, and it was getting dark. According to local customs, the search would have to be suspended after sunset."

Liu finally found a senior military officer to help break the deadlock; however, police were only able to search six houses in the village and arrest the mistress and some gang members, seizing guns and cash. At night, Naw Kham crossed into Myanmar with the help of locals.

Police then turned to technology. China's Beidou positioning system provided tremendous assistance in identifying and catching Zhan La, a Myanmese man who represented Naw Kham's business interests.

Zhan told police Naw Kham was hiding in the mountainous regions of northeastern Myanmar.

Chinese police then monitored tents spotted in the mountains to ensure they had the right people.

Catching them would be tough. They were isolated, and the nearest road was over two kilometers away.

"One plan was to use an unmanned aircraft to carry 20 kilograms of TNT to bomb the area, but the plan was rejected, because the order was to catch him alive," Liu said.

Local ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military aided the police, which meant it took them five days to reach the site; however a hidden sentry spotted them and opened fire. Gunshots woke Naw Kham and allowed him to flee yet again.

Justice delivered
On April 25, Chinese police received the news that Naw Kham had appeared in northern Myanmar, and Chinese police worked with Lao police to prepare an ambush along the Mekong River. That night, Naw Kham and two followers were arrested when they reached the riverbank in Boqiao Province.

Chinese police led the operation, because the governments of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand said their forces weren't available. "No one on the taskforce died," Liu said.

Naw Kham and three members of his gang were sentenced to death on November 6 last year for killing 13 Chinese sailors, according to a verdict from the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming. On December 26, the Provincial Higher People's Court of Yunnan maintained the sentences, rejecting appeals. Dates for the executions have not been set.

Except Naw Kham, the people in this story are identified by their Chinese names.

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