Police seized 11.1 tons of drugs in the nationwide campaign between May and November last year, an official said on Monday.

During the seven month period, they resolved 34,851 drug-related criminal cases, toppled 2,186 gangs involved in producing, trafficking or using drugs, and captured 34,719 suspects, said Yang Fengrui, an official from the Ministry of Public Security, at a press conference.

According to official statistics, the seizures included: 6.66 tons of heroin, 1.14 tons of 'ice' (methamphetamine hydrochloride), 549 kg of opium and 1.42 tons of marijuana.

Police authorities also confiscated 20 tons of opium poppy pods, 61 tons of chemicals used in drug manufacture and processing, 159.46 million yuan (US$19.29 million), 461 vehicles, and 92 small weapons used in trafficking.

Four Japanese dealers were caught by the police in Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong Province in June for trading drugs between China and Japan by sea, Yang said.

Three months later, police from Tibet and the northwestern province of Gansu shut off a trafficking route from Nepal by capturing four dealers.

In October, joint work with Thailand cut off one route leading there from Myanmar via China.

As a main gateway from the 'Golden Triangle' area to the rest of China, the southwest province of Yunnan ran over 30 joint initiatives with neighboring countries and detained 33 dealers, said Dong Sheng, an official from the provincial police department.

"The police also succeeded in reducing drug use in entertainment venues like pubs, karaoke lounges and bars last year," Yang said.

Nearly 970 such places were shut down and 1,815 temporarily closed, with approximately 120,000 suspects were taken into custody from August to November last year.

Police sent around 170,000 drug users to mandatory detox centers and 43,597 people with severe drug dependencies to centers of reeducation through labor.

This year authorities will continue to focus on trafficking through Yunnan and try to stop the manufacture of "ice" in Guangdong and Fujian while working to prevent the growing of opium poppies, Yang said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2005)