Drug mule jailed

A 28-year-old man who secreted 55 tablets of heroin in his body and attempted to transport them to Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, was sentenced to 13 years in jail with two-year deprivation of political rights and fined 30,000 yuan (US$4,360) for transporting drugs, the Shanghai Railway Transport Intermediate Court announced on Tuesday.

The 55 tablets, weighing about 318.9 grams, all tested positive as heroin, with the content ranged from 54.8 to 57.7 percent, the court said. 

The drugs were secreted by both being swallowed and placed in the anus.

His "boss" is still being chased by police.

According to the court, the man surnamed Qin left his hometown in Guizhou Province before graduating from middle school and went to Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, seeking part-time jobs. 

There he saw online recruitment ads about  "good transport" work with high pay.

He then contacted the recruiter via QQ and began working as a drug carrier.

On October 5 last year, Qin took a train from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, to Kunming, Yunnan Province. 

After being promised a high reward by his "boss", Qin hid 55 tablets of drugs by swallowing them and placing in the anus. 

On October 17, he took a flight from Xishuangbanna to Hangzhou and transferred to a train from Hangzhou to Xi'an.

When the train stopped at the Changxing Railway Station in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Qin, who had been targeted by railway police, was captured by officers.

Meanwhile, in a case released by prosecutors in Jiading District, a man, Cai, who bought two packets of methamphetamine and resold one to a friend, Yin, has been sentenced to five months detention and fined 1,000 yuan.

Zhang, the seller, who is now being dealt with in separate case, stored the drugs in a self-service package locker, which were later picked by Cai's roommate, Lin. 

Zhang was found to have used the same method to sell drugs previously.

Cai, 34, a returnee with master’s degree, became a drug addict several years ago. 

On December 21 last year, he contacted a drug seller through Lin and told his friend Yin about it. Yin then paid him 1,000 yuan for drugs and Cai gave the money to Lin along with another 1,000 yuan of his own. 

Lin used the money to buy two packets of methamphetamine for them and got the drugs from a self-service package locker.

Cai later surrendered  to police, confessing to taking drugs but saying nothing about the drug trafficking. 

However, after his friend Yin was arrested, Yin reported Cai's drug dealing.