Alleged Drug Lord Blames Thai Army

[Lite Beer]

MEKONG MASSACRE

Alleged drug lord blames Thai army

Suspect Naw Kham signs on a form in Kunming, China's Yunnan Province. Six suspects of last year's deadly attack on the Mekong River that left 13 Chinese sailors killed stood trial Thursday.

Beijing - Alleged Golden Triangle drug lord Nor Kham told a Chinese court on Thursday that he believed Thai soldiers killed 13 Chinese sailors in the Mekong river in October, reportedly retracting his earlier confession to the crime.

Prosecutors in the south-western city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, charged Nor Kham and five accomplices with murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking ships, state media reported.

But in a surprise move for China’s carefully orchestrated trialsystem, Nor Kham denied any involvement in the case when questioned in court on Thursday, despite reportedly confessing his involvement to police.

The semi-official China News Service said prosecutors asked him if he commanded and took part in hijacking Chinese ships, killing the ships’ crew and planting drugs on the vessels.

Nor Kham denied all charges and said: "The (crime) was carried out by the Thais. I knew about it through television." The agency quoted Liu Yuejin, director of the Ministry of Public Security’s anti-narcotics bureau, as saying Nor Kham’s denialof all charges was unlikely to change the course of the trial.

"Even though Nor Kham withdraws the confession, it won’t change the facts of the crime because the evidence is conclusive," Liu wasquoted as saying.

Myanmar citizen Nor Kham, 44, was extradited from Laos to China in May following joint operations by police from Thailand, Laos and China.

State broadcaster China Central Television identified two co-defendants from Myanmar by the Chinese names Zha Bo and Zha Tuobo.

Two more defendants with Thai and Lao nationality were named asSangkang Zhasa and Zha Xika, while the nationality of the sixth defendant, Yi Lai, was not given.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted Dong Lin, the court’s vice president, as saying before the trial that it was "uncommon in China’s judicial practice for foreigners who commit crimes against Chinese nationals outside China to be brought to justice before a Chinese court."

Reports said relatives of the 13 Chinese victims and embassy personnel from the defendants’ countries attended the trial, which would continue until Saturday.

Xian Yanming, Yunnan’s deputy police chief, told the China Daily newspaper earlier that Nor Kham’s gang had "colluded with renegade Thai soldiers in premeditated attacks on Chinese ships."

They wanted to "make it appear that the (Thai) authorities had uncovered a major drug-related case" by planting drugs on the ships and pretending that the Chinese sailors were drug traffickers whodied in a shoot-out, Xian said.

-- The Nation 2012-09-20

[asiawatcher]

More twists and turns than the Mekong. A guy who has been dealing in drugs and all other manner of crimes and trying to blame someone else at the 11th hour? Who knows?

[Nickymaster]

Hahaha. Why not.. It almost worked for the reds.

[SOTIRIOS]

.what would motive be.........he would need crew members to conduct business......not dispose of them......

......sounds like a 'drug war'......the number of different 'players' or 'organizations'....considering the geography...is anyone's guess...

...would be convenient to frame him....

...success through all these years would suggest he is the main 'alleged' competition in this lucrative line of business....

[philw]

Heaven forbid, Officers and Generals the Royal Thai Army complicit in illegality.........

Impossible.

Cannot be.

[webfact]

update:

MEKONG MASSACRE

Alleged drug lord blames Thai Army for Mekong killings

Beijing

Alleged drug lord Nor Kham, 44, is escorted to court after being accused of killing 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River in October last year (file photo).

BEIJING: -- Alleged Golden Triangle drug lord Nor Kham told a Chinese court yesterday that he believed Thai soldiers had killed 13 Chinese sailors in the Mekong River last October, reportedly retracting his earlier confession to the crime.

Prosecutors in the southwestern city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, charged Nor Kham and five others with murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking ships, state media reported.

But in a surprise move for China's carefully orchestrated trial system, Nor Kham denied any involvement in the case when questioned in court yesterday, despite reportedly confessing his role in the killings earlier.

The semi-official China News Service said prosecutors asked him if he had ordered the hijacking of Chinese boats, killing the crew and planting drugs on the vessels.

In court, Nor Kham denied all charges, saying: "The [crime] was carried out by the Thais. I knew about it through television."

The agency quoted Liu Yuejin, director of the Chinese Public Security Ministry's anti-narcotics bureau, as saying Nor Kham's denial was unlikely to change the course of the trial.

"Even though Nor Kham has withdrawn the confession, it won't change the facts of the crime, because the evidence is conclusive," Liu was quoted as saying.

Myanmar citizen Nor Kham, 44, was extradited from Laos to China in May after joint operations by police in Thailand, Laos and China.

State broadcaster China Central Television identified two co-defendants from Myanmar going by the Chinese names Zha Bo and Zha Tuobo.

Two more defendants of Thai and Laotian nationality were named as Sangkang Zhasa and Zha Xika, while the nationality of the sixth defendant, Yi Lai, was not provided.

China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Dong Lin, the court's vice president, as saying before the trial that it was "uncommon in China's judicial practice for foreigners who commit crimes against Chinese nationals outside China to be brought to justice before a Chinese court".

Reports said relatives of the 13 Chinese victims and embassy personnel from the defendants' countries attended the trial, which will run until Sunday.

Xian Yanming, Yunnan's deputy police chief, told the China Daily newspaper earlier that Nor Kham's gang had "colluded with renegade Thai soldiers in premeditated attacks on Chinese ships". They wanted to "make it appear that [Thai] authorities had uncovered a major drug-related case" by planting drugs on the vessels and pretending that the Chinese sailors were drug traffickers who died in a shoot-out, Xian said.

-- The Nation 2012-09-21

[chaoyang]

I just read the reports in China this morning. Even if we accept that Naw Kham was behind the attacks, nowhere that I can find gives any reason for his alleged barbarity -- why were the boats attacked and the crew killed? I believe the police usually call that motive...

My guess for the "oversight" in not presenting a motive is because something very valuable was being smuggled by the Chinese crew, and the Chinese don't want to admit what that was. Two options in my book: Drugs or money, either one under transport illegally.

[webfact]

Suspect in murder of Chinese sailors admits guilt

BEIJING, Sept 22, 2012 (AFP) - A gang leader accused of masterminding the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year has pleaded guilty at a trial in southwest China, state media said Saturday.

The trial of Naw Kham, leader of a gang based in Myanmar's northern Shan state, and five of its other members, ended on Friday at a court in Kunming city, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The sailors were killed last October in a raid on two Chinese cargo boats on the Mekong, an attack thought to have been carried out by a notorious gang in the "Golden Triangle", an area known for drug production and smuggling.

Chinese prosecutors had accused the six suspects of intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking, Xinhua said. The suspects, all foreign nationals, were taken to China in May this year.

All six pleaded guilty, although the gang leader originally claimed he was innocent at the start of the trial, which began on Thursday, Xinhua said. The court will announce sentences at a later date.

The Kunming Intermediate People's Court, where the trial took place, could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

Last year's incident sparked an angry reaction from China, which summoned diplomatic envoys from Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and asked authorities to speed up investigations into the incident.

The report quoted Nie Tao, a Chinese police officer investigating the murders, as saying nine soldiers from Thailand were involved in the case and Thai police were now investigating. It did not say how they were involved.

Chinese state media has said that the gang had more than 100 members and was suspected of kidnap, murder, looting and other crimes along the Mekong River, as well as drug smuggling.

Following the killings China and its Southeast Asian neighbours started armed patrols to protect ships navigating the Mekong River, a key waterway that flows through Yunnan province in China's southwest and into Southeast Asia.

China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand on Friday launched their sixth round of patrols since December last year, the China Daily newspaper said Saturday.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-09-22

[cup-O-coffee]

Not that I care, but it is clear that he is a fall-guy. When law enforcement goes astray of its apathetic approach towards crime and goes instead straight for the jugular and skips over the many levels of command within this drug lord's ranks in order to single him out expeditiously, it is clearly to cover its own bloody tracks. That is what I emphatically believe.

I also emphatically believe he changed his story only after the deal he cut with them went sour.

One does not have to know that in order to be a successful leader of any kind, one does not go on a bloody rampage unless one can obliterate all paths that lead to one's desk.

There aren't even mention of the usual informants here.

Yup! He's a fall guy, and I am inclines to believe him. He has no reason to lie at this point.

[Sayonarax]

Not that I care, but it is clear that he is a fall-guy. When law enforcement goes astray of its apathetic approach towards crime and goes instead straight for the jugular and skips over the many levels of command within this drug lord's ranks in order to single him out expeditiously, it is clearly to cover its own bloody tracks. That is what I emphatically believe.

I also emphatically believe he changed his story only after the deal he cut with them went sour.

One does not have to know that in order to be a successful leader of any kind, one does not go on a bloody rampage unless one can obliterate all paths that lead to one's desk.

There aren't even mention of the usual informants here.

Yup! He's a fall guy, and I am inclines to believe him. He has no reason to lie at this point.

There is no limit to pathological liars.

[RubbaJohnny]

I doubt we will be allowed to discover the full facts as it may embarrass