China arrests women trafficking heroin

KUNMING - Police have arrested two Chinese women who allegedly smuggled a large amount of heroin across the country's border with Myanmar amid the latest crackdown on drug trafficking in the region, local officials said Tuesday.

The two were caught in a rural area of Lincang, a border city in southwest China's Yunnan province, at noon Monday. Twelve stacks of heroin weighing 11.82 kg and a small amount of methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice," were found in the truck they were driving, police said.

Police were tipped off that the pair would attempt to smuggle drugs from the city of Laukkai in Myanmar five days in advance. One of the women was pregnant while the other was traveling with her 8-month-old infant, police added. Their identities were not immediately revealed to the public.

People convicted of trafficking more than 50 grams of heroin can face the death sentence, according to China's penal code.

Yunnan, which borders the notorious "Golden Triangle" of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, is at the forefront of China's anti-drug efforts. Police detained 167 suspects in drug-related crimes and seized 528 tonnes of precursor chemicals in the province last year.