Beijing citizens receive over 2m yuan to help fight drug crimes

Hundreds of Beijing citizens received cash awards of over two million yuan ($305,000) for providing clues on drug deals since 2015, with residents in Chaoyang and Haidian districts contributing the most.

More than 600 citizens received awards since the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau offered an incentive to encourage citizens to participate in anti-drug work, btime.com reported on Tuesday.

Those who provide information can receive anywhere from 1,000 to over 10,000 yuan depending on the value of their information, according to a notice the bureau released in September 2014.

Together with the UK’s MI6 and the US Central Intelligence Agency, Chaoyang Qunzhong, or the masses of Chaoyang district, was dubbed “the fifth information organization” by Chinese netizens as the masses provided valuable clues for the local police to capture drug-linked criminals, including several celebrities in China.

Haidian netizens also frequently reported to the police about drug dealers who bought drugs from other parts of China to Beijing.

Since 2017, Beijing police have busted 1,222 drug-related cases, arresting 9,158 people, Beijing-based news site cri.cn reported on Monday.

China will tighten controls over certain kinds of psychotropic drugs, including nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas,” which could also lead to anxiety, panic, stroke and even death, the report said.