Stories behind Mekong murder investigation
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E-mail Xinhua, September 19, 2012
IDENTIFYING SUSPECTS
In late October, China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand agreed to take joint action to crack down on cross-border crime and secure transportation along the Mekong River, after a meeting attended by Meng and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Kowit Wattana, Laotian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Douangchay Phichit and Myanmar's Minister of Home Affairs Ko Ko.
The four countries agreed to share intelligence and organize joint patrols.
At the meeting, it was clarified that the Chinese crew members were innocent with no link to illegal activities.
Two months after the attack, the four countries started their first joint patrol in the Mekong waters to escort plying ships.
Meanwhile, the Chinese investigation team members agreed that identifying the men in black was a priority. A drug ring led by Naw Kham, a notorious drug lord nicknamed "godfather" in the region, became the top suspect.
Naw Kham's gang was believed to be responsible for a large number of cases of manslaughter, looting, armed drug trafficking, charging "protection money" and kidnapping.
An interrogation of a gang member indicated that Yi Lai, the gang's No. 3 chief had once mentioned the group's involvement in the Oct. 5 murders.
In mid-December, Yi Lai was arrested during cooperative action by the Chinese and Laotian police. He confessed that Naw Kham and other gang members had conspired with some renegade Thai soldiers to commit the murders.
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