Drug control officials of Xiamen Customs, east China's Fujian Province, have arrested eight members of a Taiwanese-led drug trafficking group and seized 3,893 kilograms of heroin, according to the customs.

Customs officials and police recently arrested Chen Binghuang, ringleader and a Taiwanese, and his five "employees" hired for drug trafficking via China-Thailand international flights, according to the customs and police.

The customs officials found suspicious articles on March 13 in the luggage of Taiwanese passengers, Xu Wencheng and Wei Jincai, who arrived Xiamen by the flight TG610 from Bangkok to Xiamen. A check exposed 10 lumps of heroine hidden in cigarette packages.

The two confessed they had another three accomplices who had passed in. The police captured them within five days, together with Yu Fuxing and Yu Yunzhu who stayed in Xiamen offering assistance.

Chen escaped to Fuzhou, the provincial capital, and then to Nanning, capital of neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, using false papers identifying him as a Taiwanese compatriot in the name of Luo Ximing. He was later arrested by police in Nanning.

The questioning showed that Chen, a Taiwanese born in 1947, aimed to transport drugs from Thailand to Taiwan via Xiamen. He hired Taiwanese members and promised them 100,000 New Taiwanese Dollars (US$30,000) for each after they completed drug trafficking missions.

The further investigation was underway, according to the police

(Xinhau News Agency April 20, 2004)