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)