Media reports said officers in the capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province arrested seven family members and later investigations led to the arrest of 42 others. More than 20,000 crystals of the so-called "ice" drug worth $ 120,000 were seized from their possession,  said China Daily.

"The arrest means the collapse of a drug trafficking corridor that runs from Myanmar to Yunnan to Harbin," police said.

The ring leader was a 47-year-old woman named Tan Guiqin who appointed her immediate family as senior gang members. They included her boyfriend Li Guobin, her son Zhang Tianle and his girlfriend Wang Songlan.

Wang's niece Tan Yan, nephew Tan Fei and his girlfriend Sun Ying were also arrested.

Police were alerted of the family's drug dealing after Tan's neighbour, a man surnamed Li, spotted her selling drugs at a hotel at the end of last year.

Li reported Tan to the police who launched a series of investigations and found Tan had connections with drug traffickers in Myanmar.

Gu Liguang, who headed the investigation team, said the three swallowed the drugs to smuggle them across province borders or through airports to Harbin.