Chapter 72 Methamphetamine Under the River
“We searched the entire area but didn’t find any drugs. They wouldn’t be taking turns guarding this place unless they were hiding something important.”
Wei Dongyang explained to Lin Xili, Brother Li, and Brother Wang, who had just arrived.
The three nodded and resumed their investigation.
500 meters from the beach, several trees growing next to a pile of rocks were also dug up.
Lin Xili's gaze swept over one of the trees, and she stopped in her tracks.
On the fallen tree trunk, which, if not fallen, is about five meters above the ground, there seems to be a patch of the trunk with an odd color.
"Brother Li, Brother Wang, Captain Wei, come here quickly!" Lin Xili shouted.
Lin Xili quickly moved closer to look; it wasn't a stain, nor was it moss.
It was blood, dried and dark, and it belonged to one person. There was also an old scratch next to the blood.
“Captain Wei, there is blood on the trunk of this tree. The distribution of the blood clearly indicates that it was not sprayed there during a fight. Someone climbed up there injured. There is also a mark next to it, which is the number 7.”
Everyone's spirits lifted.
Without saying a word, Wei Dongyang moved closer to observe carefully.
Beneath the bloodstains, a clear number—7—was carved into the rough bark by a sharp tool.
The engravings are deep and not new; they don't look like they were just made.
"The number '7'..."
Wei Dongyang muttered to himself, "What does this mean? A number? A code? Or some kind of hint?"
He took out his camera and took pictures of the bloodstains and the number "7" on the tree trunk from multiple angles and at different focal lengths.
A desolate beach, bloodstains from multiple people, and eerie carvings on trees...
"Captain Wei, let's collect biological samples and scoring samples from here first!" Lin Xili said.
"Alright, it seems we can't overlook any trace of evidence, including bloodstains, tree bark fragments, and any other minute traces in the surrounding area!"
Brother Wang immediately handed over the sampling tools, and Lin Xili and his colleagues continued their intense exploration work.
She threw her finger at the number carved on the tree trunk again—"7".
Brother Wang placed the extracted bark marks into a container and connected it to the instrument. Soon after, he added a crucial piece of information.
“Xi Li, the trace amount of bark scraps extracted from the bark marks were compared with Panglong DNA and confirmed to be Panglong.”
"But the blood wasn't Pang Long's; it was from one of his underlings."
Could these characters have been carved by Pang Long?
Lin Xili stared at the "7", her brain working at lightning speed.
This number must have some meaning; he wouldn't have engraved it for no reason.
It was carved at this height and in this position, which was by no means a random scribbling. The vertical alignment of the number 7 indicates that there were no drugs hidden below it.
If you treat it as a coordinate, rather than a marker.
Her gaze shifted from the "7" on the tree trunk to the river flowing slowly ahead.
It wasn't on the ground; could it be that turbid, surging river?
"Captain Wei!" Lin Xili turned around abruptly. "Quick, prop that tree up!"
"Perhaps we're looking in the wrong direction. The thing might not be on the shore, but in the water. Let's go and check the bottom of the river!"
She pointed to the "7" and said, "Imagine this '7' as an arrow or a coordinate reference."
"Starting from the point where it was carved, follow its implied direction and try to retrieve the riverbed at the corresponding location!"
They kept their search limited to the riverbank, ignoring the turbulent, muddy river water right next to them.
Hiding underwater is indeed more concealed than being buried in the soil, and it also better suits Pang Long's cunning nature.
Wei Dongyang immediately ordered: "Put this tree back up and restore it to its original state. Also, call the water patrol team over with professional salvage equipment and carefully retrieve it!"
Police speedboats and marine police equipped with diving gear arrived quickly.
The tree was restored to its original state, and following Lin Xili's deduced location, the divers descended into the murky riverbed to search for it.
Time ticked by, and everyone on the shore was on tenterhooks.
Two hours later, a diver surfaced and shouted, "Captain Wei, we've found something! There's a heavy metal cabinet underwater!"
"Pull it up!"
With the help of machinery, a tightly sealed green metal cabinet was slowly dragged up from the riverbed and placed heavily on the open ground on the bank.
The moment the cabinet door was forcibly opened using technical means, all the police officers present gasped in shock.
Inside, neatly arranged were bags of white crystals in transparent vacuum packaging.
Under the sunlight, it reflects a piercing glare.
Lin Xili immediately stepped forward, put on gloves, took out the rapid test kit he carried with him, and conducted a preliminary test on the white crystals.
The results showed that methamphetamine was positive, and the purity was extremely high!
After a rough count and estimation, the total weight of this cabinet of methamphetamine is staggering, and its black market value is initially estimated to exceed one hundred million yuan.
Looking at the staggering amount of drugs, and combining the forensic test results with the on-site investigation, Wei Dongyang made a preliminary deduction: "It seems that there was an unequal distribution of the spoils, or that there was a double-cross during the transaction."
"Pang Long and his men took turns guarding this priceless shipment. A fierce infighting broke out, possibly due to issues over distribution or someone wanting to take it all for themselves."
"The bloodstains of the five people on the beach and Pang Long's corpse both confirm this."
"After Pang Long died, one of his underlings climbed up to check the location of the goods, which is why he got stained with blood."
"Pang Long had hidden the goods at the bottom of the river and marked them beforehand. That's why they appeared together three nights ago to pick up the goods. Who knew that an internal conflict would break out."
Wei Dongyang paused, then added the latest information on the arrests: "Based on the clues we had previously gathered and the surveillance that began last night, we have successfully captured all four other core members of Pang Long's gang, and the interrogation is underway."
"He rented a fishing boat earlier, apparently to transport drugs. This Pang Long is cunning enough to use this method!"
The case has made a breakthrough, and most of the fog that has shrouded the wasteland has been dispelled.
Lin Xili stood to the side, looking at the metal cabinet that had been successfully salvaged, her heart heavy.
Behind a hundred million yuan worth of drugs, how many broken families and ruined lives are there?
The work of forensics is to interpret these silent testimonies, to make silent physical evidence speak, to restore the truth, and to bring evil to justice.
She took a deep breath, turned around, and together with Brother Wang and Brother Li, continued to devote herself to the subsequent complicated work of evidence collection and examination.
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