HAIKOU, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-seven suspects have been arrested and 17 kg of heroin seized as a cross-border drug trafficking ring was destroyed, police in southern China's Hainan Province said Friday.

Three of the suspects were from Myanmar.

Police in Sanya, Hainan noticed a local drug dealer in February 2017. An investigation revealed a cross-border drug trafficking network. Drugs were smuggled to Yunnan on the China-Myanmar border and then transported to the neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region before being distributed to provinces of Hainan, Guangdong and Sichuan.

After figuring out the ring's structure and activity routines, police in the five provincial areas launched a raid on Dec. 20, arresting 19 suspects and seizing 13 kg of heroin on the day. Another 18 suspects and 4 kg of heroin were captured in later operations.

Further investigation is underway.