Police have seized 80 kg (176 pounds) of heroin and arrested two suspects in Lanzhou, the capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, according to the Provincial Public Security Bureau.

The haul was picked up on November 16 in a joint operation involving police from Yunnan and Gansu provinces.

Yunnan police were tipped off on November 8 that the drug would be transported over the border to Lanzhou, so they set up a special team to plan and carry out the joint operation.

Two suspects, surnamed Zhou and Kang, were arrested as they were doing a deal in downtown Lanzhou. Police soon found the heroin hidden between planks in containers at a freight yard.

Another team found a rifle and over a hundred bullets 50 km away in Kang's lodgings in Dongxiang County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture. 

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2004)