Chinese Teens Caught Trafficking Drugs at Border to Pay for Online Game Items

You know you've taken your game obsession a few steps too far when you find yourself smuggling heroin across the border in your stomach. But that's exactly what two Guizhou teens did after their gaming habits left them with little income but lots of desire to purchase expensive in-game items in online games. The boys, surnamed Zhao and Hao, were workers in a coal mine but weren't making much money because they spent all their time skipping work to play games. This made it difficult to afford food and rent, let alone purchase desirable virtual items. Looking for a way to make money quickly, the boys were befriended by an adult on QQ who convinced them that smuggling heroin though Kunming would be a great way to earn money because one trip would generate enough money for them to buy 'a full set of in-game items.'

Somehow, Zhao and Hao fell for this, and they began visiting the border areas near Kunming and ingesting heroin in baggies to smuggle inland and sell in Kunming. This highly profitable enterprise was interrupted when the boys were questioned by a policeman on the train who felt they were acting highly suspiciously. Ultimately, police discovered that the boys had smuggled nearly 500 grams of heroin in nearly 200 baggies in this manner.

It's not clear what punishment the teens will face, but drug smugglers in China are often executed, even those that are foreign citizens. Will the court make an exception for 18-year-old Zhao and Hao? It seems rather unlikely.

I'm not sure what game items Zhao and Hao were after, but let this be a lesson to gaming teens everywhere: no online game is worth smuggling heroin for. I don't care what ultra-rare in-game items you are coveting, it's just not worth it!

[via QQ Games]