[Myanmar] Seventh Joint Mekong Patrol Commences

China, Laos, Burma and Thailand on Sunday began their seventh joint patrol on the Mekong River in the Golden Triangle region, Chinese news agency Xinhua reports. The nations’ police officers will hold a five-day patrol to check ships, passengers and goods for drugs, weapons and stowaways traveling on the river. The joint patrols first started in October 2011 after a gang hijacked two cargo ships and killed 13 Chinese sailors in a Thai-managed part of river. Since the patrols began, the number of Chinese ships using the stretch of the Lower Mekong increased from 10 to 59.