Stories behind Mekong murder investigation

Hunting down Naw Kham

After discovering that Naw Kham was hiding in a village in Laos's Boqiao province, Chinese and Laotian police searched the village on Dec 6, finding one of the ringleader's mistresses, ammunition and narcotics. However, the head of the village prohibited them from searching as night fell, leaving Naw Kham to escape to Myanmar during the night.

However, police later found the leader's new enclave: a location hidden deep in the forests of Myanmar, protected by armed guards and land mines. Although police attempted to extract him from his hideout, Naw Kham still managed to evade arrest.

The manhunt was effectively mired until Hsang Kham, the gang's second-in-command, was detained on April 20. Police interrogated him to obtain Naw Kham's latest whereabouts.

"We changed our tactics this time," said Liu Yuejin, leader of the police team set up to crack the case. "We kept the mission secret and ordered the arrest at the last minute."

In the meantime, China pushed Myanmar to make greater efforts to hunt down the gangs, resulting in Naw Kham re-entering Laos. Police stationed at the border captured Naw Kham and two gang members after they went ashore on April 25.

On May 10, after half a month of negotiations, Naw Kham was officially transferred to Chinese police by Laos authorities.

Naw Kham's gang was also broken up, with several members involved in the attack captured by police, including Weng Mie, the gang's fourth-in-command.

In July, Meng Jianzhu visited Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and reached a consensus with the leaders of the three countries on investigating the case and strengthening cooperation in law enforcement.

On Aug 28, Weng Mie was transferred to Chinese police as agreed upon by Chinese and Myanmar authorities. The confessions he and other gang members offered helped police piece together the case.

The criminals said several Chinese vessels had traveled along the Mekong River without paying protection fees to Naw Kham. He notified the captains of the Huaping and Yuxing 8 vessels about his displeasure regarding the fees, but the captains refused to speak with him.

Several of Naw Kham's subordinates subsequently colluded with Thai soldiers to mastermind an attack on the vessels, planning to hijack the boats and kill the sailors, as well as blame the Chinese sailors for instigating a fight between them, thereby allowing the soldiers to escape punishment.

On Oct 4, 2011, the gang members began tracking the two vessels, attacking them the next day and planting a large amount of amphetamine on the boats.

After the criminals directed the vessels to a predetermined location, Weng Mie and other gang members herded the sailors together and gunned them down. Thai soldiers then fired at the two vessels and dumped the bodies of the sailors into the water.

Xian Yanming, vice director of the Yunnan provincial Public Security Bureau and a member of the murder case team, said the murder happened overseas, all the suspects were foreigners who have long committed crimes in the tumultuous Golden Triangle Region, and all related investigations, intelligence gathering, evidence collection and arrests were carried out outside China.

"It is by far the most complicated criminal case Chinese policemen have ever handled," Liu said.

Meng Sutie, police chief of Yunnan province, said threats against Chinese citizens traveling overseas are mounting, adding that the handling of the case demonstrates China's determination to keep its citizens safe in foreign countries.

Naw Kham and other core members of his gang will stand trial Thursday at the Intermediate People's Court of Yunnan's capital of Kunming.

They will be charged with intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and ship hijacking by the Kunming People's Procuratorate.

"I believe the trial will be a comfort for my father," said the son of Qiu Jiahai, one of the murdered sailors.