Shanghai police, in cooperation with their counterparts in Yunnan Province, have broken a major family drug trafficking ring, seizing 16 suspects, a large quantity of heroin and illicit money, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau announced Monday.

Authorities said they successfully destroyed a drug trafficking chain that ran from Myanma to Guangdong Province, Beijing and the city via Yunnan Province.

Police set up a special task force at the end of May when two city officers who were investigating a transnational drug case bumped into the female ring leader at a hotel in Yunnan Province, according to bureau spokesman Zhao Jinyi.

Authorities knew the woman, who they would only identify by the pseudonym Lang Dongzhi, had allegedly been involved in drug trafficking since 1998, and wondered what she was doing in Yunnan.

"She once spent 15 months behind bars for drug trafficking," Zhao said. "In 2001 Lang returned to the criminal career and moved to Ruili, Yunnan Province to set up her own family drug trafficking group."

The Ministry of Public Security listed Lang's illegal activities as a major concern this year noting "Lang is suspected of supplying funds for terrorism organizations as well as trafficking drugs."

In July, Yunnan police captured two drug traffickers on an expressway and seized 3.4 kilograms of heroin. The suspects confessed that they had been employed to transport the drugs to Shanghai so Yunnan police immediately informed local authorities about the illegal trade. On July 30, city police managed to catch two female drug dealers in Pudong. "These two successful operations enabled us to possess the basic information on the criminal ring such as its members, the site of dens and the origin of narcotics," said the spokesman.

On August 11, another two drug traffickers were caught at Kunming Airport in Yunnan Province. Police seized 690 grams of heroin in their double-layered suitcase. Two weeks later, city police raided a hostel on Wujin Road, Hongkou District, seizing three suspects and one kilogram of heroin.

Later that day, officers raided a restaurant on Zhapu Road, the site where Lang's alleged accomplices committed drug deals in the city. Yunnan police went into action at dusk on August 25 and managed to catch up with several chief ring members including Lang.

(Shanghai Daily December 14, 2004)