Huan Alamang, who heads up a special unit of the Chinese government accused by the American military of harboring military equipment destined for the Middle East and Africa in order to counter U.S. sanctions over its cyberwar tactics, was also arrested at his home in Hong Kong, as the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The Times reported Wednesday that both detained men were arrested as they slept, but their respective prison terms vary slightly, at seven-and-a-half years and two years, respectively.
As for the arrest of Chen Guangcheng—whose fate is still uncertain—the newspaper noted that he “was held in solitary confinement for eight months after having served half of a 28-day sentence” following a 2014 court sentencing. Chen had traveled to his hometown of Dongguan to speak at an academic conference, and was promptly detained for being a member of an “unapproved group.”
Chen had been charged “because he was a journalist that was trying to provide the public with independent information to support the rights of the people” under the country’s new national security law, the newspaper continued.
On Tuesday, the New York Times released a report detailing how President Donald Trump, a fan of the now-disbanded unit known as Sinaloa, has been “openly rooting for its collapse” in the face of U.S. sanctions.
The investigation into the U.S. war on drugs and, more broadly, the country’s ongoing war on drugs—which has killed tens of thousands with over 500,000 deaths from drug use—was started by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and overseen by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. While it ultimately failed to make a dent in those numbers (due, in part, to a lack of progress on enforcement), the unit was widely regarded as a failure given the extensive resources invested in its operation. And it was also plagued by accusations of corruption and the use of excessive force.
“The war on drugs has been a disaster and a complete failure,” said the former top Sinaloa official, Eduardo Medina. “Drug cartels have expanded with impunity. And what was the point of all this law enforcement and so many billions of dollars going into police operations and so many lives lost?”
Even Duterte, a drug hawk who openly supports the war, has weighed in on the corruption of the DEA officers, saying, “How much