CHINA: China executes a Myanmar drug smuggler and three members of his gang for murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River

Record ID: 1963453

  • Title: CHINA: China executes a Myanmar drug smuggler and three members of his gang for murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River
  • Date: 1st March 2013
  • Summary: KUNMING, YUNNAN PROVINCE, CHINA (MARCH 1, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (CCTV - NO ACCESS CHINA) VARIOUS OF MAN ACCUSED OF DRUG SMUGGLING AND MURDERING CHINESE SAILORS, NAW KHAM, BEING ESCORTED THROUGH DOOR BY POLICE OFFICERS GUARDS ESCORTING NAW KHAM OFFICER READING TO NAW KHAM POLICE OFFICERS UNDOING NAW KHAM'S HANDCUFFS POLICE OFFICERS TYING NAW KHAM'S HANDS BEHIND HIS BACK NAW KHAM'S FACE OFFICERS PULLING BACK NAW KHAM'S HEAD OFFICER FASTENING SHACKLES AROUND NAW KHAM'S ANKLES OFFICERS ESCORTING NAW KHAM AWAY OFFICERS ESCORTING NAW KHAM INTO BACK OF VAN, SHUTTING GATE MAN ACCUSED OF DRUG SMUGGLING AND MURDERING CHINESE SAILORS HSANG KHAM BEING ESCORTED BY POLICE HSANG KHAM'S FACE POLICE ESCORTING HSANG KHAM INTO VAN VARIOUS OF THIRD MAN ACCUSED OF DRUG SMUGGLING AND MURDERING CHINESE SAILORS, YI LAI, BEING ESCORTED BY CHINESE POLICE FOURTH MAN ACCUSED OF DRUG SMUGGLING AND MURDERING CHINESE SAILORS, ZHA XIKA VARIOUS OF VANS DRIVING AWAY
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  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVAD7OOI13EK0HI1L892SIU6H62V
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: China executed a Myanmar drug smuggler and three members of his gang on Friday (March 1) for murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River in October 2011, state media reported.
    In pictures broadcast live on state broadcaster CCTV, Naw Kham had his hands bound behind his back and his ankles shackled before he was escorted into a van waiting outside the court in Kunming, the capital of China's southwestern Yunnan province.
    His accomplices -- Hsang Kham from Thailand, Zha Xika from Laos and Yi Lai, who is stateless -- were then escorted to other vans surrounded by Chinese media.
    The men were later killed by lethal injection, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
    The court in Kunming accused Naw Kham, who was extradited to China by Lao officials in May, and his accomplices of the killings of Chinese boat crews in late 2011 in the "Golden Triangle" region, known for drug smuggling where the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet.
    It was one of the deadliest assaults on Chinese nationals overseas in modern times and prompted Beijing to send gunboat patrols to the region downstream from its borders.
    Naw Kham, in his 40s, pleaded guilty in September during a two-day trial in which he expressed penitence to the victims and their families, state media reported at the time.
    The men were accused of intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking.
    China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Friday that the case proved that China is able to deal with crimes committed outside its own borders.

    "I think an important message that this case sends is that it shows the determination of China and the governments of relevant countries to work hard together to combat cross-border crime," Hua said.
    The Mekong snakes from China into Southeast Asia, where it forms the border between Myanmar and Laos, and then Thailand and Laos. In 2001, the four countries signed an agreement to regulate shipping on the river.
    All Chinese shipping on the Mekong was suspended after the murders, which sparked outrage in China. The incident was followed by Chinese patrols and strengthened security cooperation among the four countries.
    The patrols have been seen as an expansion of Beijing's growing role in regional security, extending its law enforcement down the highly strategic waterway and into Southeast Asia.
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