Suspect in murders of 13 on Mekong flown to China

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese media say a suspected drug gangster accused of orchestrating the murders of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year has been extradited from Laos.

The official Xinhua News Agency says Naw Kham was flown on a chartered plane dispatched by Chinese authorities Thursday morning. State broadcasters aired his arrival live.

Nine Thai soldiers previously surrendered in the case but will not be extradited. Thai authorities are still investigating, and police will go to China this month to interview the victims' families.

The sailors were on two Chinese cargo ships hijacked last October in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle region, which is notorious for the production and trafficking of heroin and other illicit drugs.

China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand started joint river patrols last December after the murders.