The alleged kingpin, middle-aged Liu Ming, was killed by Myanmar police during a fight when police tried to capture him in the early morning of January 28, said Sun Dahong, director-general of Narcotics Control Administration of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

"The police on the Chinese side have examined the corpse and found it was Liu Ming, who has brought 510 kilograms of heroin into China since 1993," Sun said at a press conference yesterday.

"During our investigation of many drug trafficking cases in China, we learned that Liu was the prime organizer in many deals and we offered this intelligence and evidence to Myanmar's police," Sun claimed.

At yesterday's press conference, Sun also revealed that provincial police caught a gang of suspected drug traffickers last November who were allegedly involved in processing 672.9 kilograms of heroin.

The heroin was found by local police in the province's Qujing Prefecture when they conducted a regular check on a truck on November 8. The traffickers had planned to transport the load to Huizhou in coastal Guangdong Province.

With the help of Huizhou police, Yunnan anti-drug police caught suspect trafficker Lin Yecheng in the town of Shatian in Huizhou four days later. Lin was later found to be a Hong Kong resident.

After a month of investigation, 21 suspects involved in a trafficking ring were captured. Among them, 12 were from Hong Kong, according to Sun.

"Hong Kong police have been informed and they have already come to Kunming, to question the related suspects," Sun said.

Despite these achievements since China launched a sweeping campaign against drugs in Yunnan 20 years ago, Sun said drug trafficking still remains rampant in these border areas.

Only cooperative efforts can ease or eradicate this world threat, he added.

"The problem is a global one and all the authorities in the world should have a resolute hand in it," Sun said.

Governments should establish partnerships and set up joint investigations, Sun said.

(China Daily February 5, 2002)