KUNMING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A six-nation joint operation against rampant drug crimes along the Lancang-Mekong region has seized 17.6 tonnes of narcotics and apprehended 15,000 suspects in three months starting May, Chinese police said Thursday.
Police have also seized 330.6 tonnes of chemicals to be used in drug manufacturing as of Tuesday, police announced at a meeting held in Jinghong City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, to mark the end of the latest anti-doping operation launched by China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
An Guojun, deputy secretary-general of the China National Narcotics Control Commission, said that 2018 is the last year of a three-year joint drugs control action plan by the six countries and each country has busted a series of major drug cases.
But the six countries should work together to further improve the working mechanism and efficiency to tackle new challenges to help reverse the deteriorating drugs situation along the Mekong River, said An.
Another three-month-long joint operation is scheduled to be held from September to November.
The 5,000-km waterways of the Lancang and Mekong rivers, crossing the territories of the six nations, were notorious for drug trafficking due to lax law enforcement, spawning many armed-drug syndicates.
