Beijing started Thursday to use drone aircraft for the first time to search for poppy crops in the surrounding mountains, local police said.

Police will use the drone aircraft and helicopters in the one-month campaign against poppy planting, said Zhao Wenzhong, director of the drug control department of the municipal public security bureau.

The crackdown on poppy crops in neighboring Hebei has resulted in a tendency of poppy planting in Beijing's mountainous areas, Zhao said.

Police in the Chinese capital arrested 2,138 people in 1,601 drug cases and seized more than 50 kg drugs in the first four months of the year, Zhao said.

In Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province, police said Thursday they have arrested 19 members of a mafia-style ring that involved in drug production.

Police seized 6 kg of drugs, drug production tools and materials, 10 guns, 390 bullets, 9 grenades and 18 kg of dynamite.