Thai authorities are reporting that three Chinese policemen suffered injuries from a gun and knife fight with Myanmar-based drug smugglers while patrolling the Mekong River in the Golden Triangle area, according to Chinese media reports.

The Chinese police boat was patrolling the Mekong in accordance with a regional agreement focused on fighting drug smuggling in the area. According to the Thai navy, a boat with approximately six people on board approached the Chinese police vessel and suddenly began to open fire.

According to reports, the alleged drug smugglers proceeded to jump on the police boat, shooting and stabbing three Chinese police officers during a five-minute conflict before jumping back onto their boat and speeding away. The three injured officers were rushed to a hospital in Chiang Rai, Thailand afterward.

It is believed that the attack on the Chinese police boat was organized by a local drug smuggling organization that was trying to protect its drug transport route on the Mekong. The Chinese police were reportedly patrolling the area on an inside tip.

Myanmar is the second-largest producer of opium in the world, trailing only Afghanistan. According to a United Nations report released last October, Myanmar experienced a 46 percent increase in opium production in 2007 – after a 10-year period in which opium production had declined each year.

Primary reasons cited by the report for increased opium production in Myanmar – which is ruled by a military junta – include official corruption, high-level conspiracy and ineffective border management. In addition to increased opium production, Myanmar in recent years has become a major producer of amphetamine, producing several hundred million pills yearly, the majority of which are smuggled into Thailand and China.

A major shipment of heroin headed for Kunming was discovered in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on Monday, leading the country's customs officials to seek Chinese help in finding the Kunming contact for the smuggling operation, according to Bangladeshi media reports.

Bangladeshi customs at Zia International Airport arrested two Bangladeshi nationals for drug trafficking after finding 23.5 kilograms (51.8 pounds) of heroin hidden in their luggage under lemons, tea and lentils. The bust is the biggest in Bangladesh since 1999, when three Pakistani nationals were arrested with 24 kilograms of heroin.

According to customs officials speaking at a press conference, Ariful Islam Bhuiyan and Mahmud Ali were attempting to smuggle the heroin from Dhaka to Kunming via Beijing. The officials said they suspect that the two men, traveling to China on business visas, are part of an international drug ring, adding that they seek China's help in finding the intended recipient of the shipment in Kunming. As of noon on Wednesday, Chinese news media has yet to cover the story.

Image: The Daily Star

Yunnan province seized a whopping 9.6 tons of illegal drugs in the first 11 months of 2006, accounting for 80 percent of the total drugs confiscated nationwide during the period, according to this report citing Sun Dahong, deputy director of Yunnan's provincial Public Security Bureau. The total is more than double the four tons of drugs seized in the province in 2005.

Of the 9.6 tons, police seized 3.87 tons of heroin, 3.71 tons of methamphetamine, 1.38 tons of opium and 0.64 tons of other drugs. Nearly 12,000 people were arrested during the 11-month period.

Yunnan is situated just north of the infamous opiate-producing area in the northern regions of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand known as the Golden Triangle. Its rugged and porous borders have made it a main point of entry for illegal drugs into China.

Heroin and methamphetamine seem to be the main targets of the 30,000+ anti-drug police in Yunnan. The majority of heroin coming into China from the Golden Triangle passes through Dali, where it is then distributed to the rest of China and even the United States via China's coastal cities.