Shipping in the region is safer than ever thanks to joint efforts between China and its three neighbors, reports Hu Yongqi in the Golden Triangle

Sirens blared a warning across the apparently tranquil Mekong River as a Chinese patrol fleet entered the waters of the Golden Triangle, Asia's second-largest opium-producing region.

Chinese border police loaded their guns in the cabin before jumping through a hatch onto the deck in response to the Level 1 alert. The area is notoriously dangerous and was formerly the hunting ground of a gang led by Naw Kham, a Myanmar drug lord who was executed in March in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.