Traffickers used minors to smuggle drugs

Three members of a drug trafficking gang who used minors to smuggle drugs from Burma were jailed by a court in Nanjing, local prosecutors said on Tuesday.

According to the No. 3 Branch of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate, which charged the offenders, between September and November last year chief culprit Lu and accomplice Ding employed Ma and two minors to carry heroin in their bodies from Burma to China with the help of a minor Gao and an adult Li.

To avoid detection, they used routes with no customs offices. The drugs were later transported to provinces including Sichuan and Hunan.

On September 17 last year, Nanjing railway police were questioning Ding on a train from Kunming to Nanjing when they found details of drug trafficking on his cellphone.

Ding's confession and the information on his phone showed the whereabouts of a minor Feng, who was caught the same day. The others were traced later.

An investigation showed Lu had smuggled and transported nearly 974 grams of heroin while Ding smuggled and transported 306 grams. Li smuggled and transported 328 grams of heroin.

The amounts of heroin smuggled and transported by the three minors, Gao, Li and Feng, were respectively 646, 328 and 306 grams. Ma was put in a separate case.

Gao was also charged with a violent incident in a pub in June 2017. 

Lu was sentenced to life imprisonment, lost his political rights for life and had his assets confiscated. Ding was sentenced to 15 years, loss of political rights for three years and confiscation of assets worth 30,000 yuan.

Li was given 13 years in jail, loss of political rights for two years and confiscation of assets worth 25,000 yuan.

The three minors were given jail terms ranging from seven years to nine years and three months and fines of 7,000 to 9,000 yuan (US$1,279).