China, working with the United States and Thailand, has seized a record haul of illegal drugs near a disputed South China Sea reef, state media said on Friday.
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The Chinese anti-drug agency and the China Coast Guard, acting on a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Royal Thai Police, intercepted the vessel Ji Sheng around 130 nautical miles southwest of the Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island in China, the People’s Daily reported.
The operation was on the early morning of February 24 and resulted in the seizure of 4,973.4kg (10,964 pounds) of methamphetamine and the arrest of seven suspects, though the information was just disclosed.
This case marks the largest single maritime drug seizure in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years, the report noted.
Representatives from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of China’s Ministry of Public Security, the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau, and the US DEA have recently met in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, to share the latest developments of their respective work on this case, the report added.
“The three sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation and deepen efforts to dismantle the networks of drug trafficking syndicates operating behind the scenes,” it said.
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