Heroin Seizure Suspect Extradited (r)

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

06/05/1997

Heroin Seizure Suspect Extradited 


By JIRAPORN WONGPAITHOON 
Associated Press Writer 

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- The suspected mastermind behind the biggest shipment 
of heroin ever seized in the United States left a Bangkok prison today for a 
closely guarded journey to New York, where he will stand trial on drug 
charges. 

Li Yun-chung was arrested in Bangkok last year but jumped bail and fled to 
Burma in February. Burmese authorities, in a gesture of political friendship, 
sent him back last month. 

Li, a Burmese-born Chinese with Thai residency, was indicted in U.S. District 
Court in New York in May 1996 in connection with 1,070 pounds of heroin that 
was seized in Hayward, Calif., in 1991. The drugs, worth about $50 million, 
were destined for New York. 

Thai authorities arrested him in July with an alleged accomplice, Cha 
Chung-chang, also sought by U.S. authorities. Cha is still fighting 
extradition. 

Li's case gained notoriety in Thailand because of allegations he bribed 
high-ranking court officials to have bail granted. When Thai authorities 
questioned Li on his return, he said he bought his freedom for $800,000. 

Li was handed today to U.S. officials at the Bangkok Remand Prison and taken 
by van to Bangkok's airport, where he was flown by helicopter to a Thai air 
force base at Takhli, 100 miles northeast of Bangkok. 

A U.S. military aircraft waited there to transport him to New York, 
accompanied by two agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and two 
U.S. federal marshals. 

Li was not expected to arrive in New York today due to a stopover, sources in 
the federal prosecutor's office in Brooklyn, N.Y., said on condition of 
anonymity. 

Li and Cha also have been linked to a 158-pound heroin shipment seized in 
Singapore in March last year. 

Since January 1996, at least six alleged drug traffickers have been extradited 
from Thailand to the United States.