1.   Eventually, the ring began working almost exclusively in the financial districts and affluent areas.

2.   The ring began to unravel when one of the students described the scheme to police last spring.

3.   Within days, the ring began to close.

4.   International rings have begun using Vietnam as a transit point for sending drugs from Burma, Laos and Thailand to Hong Kong and the West.

5.   International drug rings began using southern China as a way to get heroin from Laos and Burma to the lucrative markets in Europe and North America.

6.   The Mexican rings began moving thousands of kilos of cocaine they extracted as payment across the border for U.S. sale, Mitchell said.

7.   The ring allegedly began in the United States.

8.   US officials said the ring began operating five years ago, with Nigerian women allegedly smuggling small quantities of heroin for existing organized crime groups.