Shipping suspended after hijackers kill crew members

China suspended shipping through Asia’s Golden Triangle yesterday after attacks by suspected drug traffickers on two Chinese cargo ships left 13 people dead or missing on the Mekong River.

The bodies of 12 crew members were found near Chiang Rai in northern Thailand on Friday and Saturday after the ships were hijacked on Wednesday, the China Daily newspaper reported. Another body was found in the same area early yesterday, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said.

Most of the victims had been bound and blindfolded with adhesive tape and shot, the China Daily reported. The crew included two female cooks, it said.

The Golden Triangle region, where the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand meet, is notorious for the production and trafficking of heroin and other illicit drugs.

The Bangkok Post reported that local authorities seized both boats after a gun battle with the hijackers and found cargo that included amphetamine pills worth about £2 million.

Thai army officials said a gang run by suspected ethnic Shan drug trafficker Nor Kham was believed to be behind the attacks. It said the gang demands protection money from ships it hijacks on the Mekong and kills crew who refuse to co-operate.