Drugs gang sentenced for Mekong attack

A Myanmar drug baron offered to pay financial compensation after pleading guilty in a Chinese court to murdering 13 sailors on the Mekong River in October.

Published: Sept. 24, 2012 at 6:30 AM

BEIJING, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A Myanmar drug baron offered to pay financial compensation after pleading guilty in a Chinese court to killing 13 sailors on the Mekong River in October.

The defendant Naw Kham -- one of six on trial for the killings -- expressed sorrow to the families in the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province in southwest China.

Naw, members of the gang and a small number of Thai soldiers allegedly attacked, hijacked and killed 13 Chinese sailors Oct. 5 on two cargo ships on the Mekong River.

The bodies of the 13 sailors were found floating in the river, blindfolded and with their hands tied or handcuffed. All of them died of gunshot wounds, a report by the Global Times said.

Naw, 43, denied he plotted the October attack on two ships, Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, as claimed by his five co-defendants, a report by China's state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The court, which found all six defendants guilty of murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping, is to soon reconvene to choose a date for sentencing, Xinhua reported.

The 3,050-mile Mekong River is the world's 10th longest river and an important commercial and agricultural asset to the countries through which it runs.

However, the Mekong is also a major drugs smuggling route.

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Drugs gang sentenced for Mekong attack