Chinese police have arrested a fugitive who’d been on the run for 17 years, after they used drones to spot his cave hideout.
The 63-year old, named Song Jiang by the police, had been jailed for trafficking women and children but escaped from a prison camp in 2002.
He had been living in a tiny cave cut off from human interaction for years.
Yongshan police received clues about Song’s whereabouts in early September, they said on their WeChat account.
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Those clues led them to the mountains behind his hometown in Yunnan province in south-west China.
After regular searches failed to find anything, authorities sent additional drones to help the officers.
The drones eventually spotted a blue-coloured steel tile on a steep cliff as well as traces of household rubbish nearby.
Police then moved in on foot and found Song in a small cave where he’d been hiding for years.
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According to the police, the man had been living in seclusion for so long that it was difficult for him to communicate with the officers.
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State media said the man had used plastic bottles to get drinking water from a river, and had used branches of trees to make fire.
He has been sent back to jail.
Source:Â bbc.com