660,600 arrested in drug busts since 2013
A TOTAL of 660,600 suspects were arrested in 536,704 drugrelated cases between January 2013 and April this year, according to China’s top procuratorate.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate also said local procuratorates prosecuted 741,260 suspects and 597,608 cases for drug crimes during this period.
“China’s crackdown on drugs has seen positive results, while there are still a large number of drug cases and suspects,” said Huang Weiping, an official with the SPP.
“The number of crimes related to new types of synthetic drugs, mainly crystal meth, yaba (a stimulant composed of methamphetamine and caffeine) and ketamine, has been rising rapidly in recent years, and suspects tend to commit the crimes at a noticeably younger age,” Huang said.
Procuratorates in China have taken several measures for the country’s anti-drug fight, including providing anti-drug education in communities and rural areas, as well as releasing information about anti-drug work via new media.
In Taiyuan, north China’s Shanxi Province, five drug traffickers have been sentenced to death and another six sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
The Changzhi Intermediate People’s Court handed down the verdicts on 32 defendants in three drug trafficking cases on Monday, the Shanxi Provincial Higher People’s Court said.
Fourteen people were sentenced to life in prison and the remaining seven were given jail terms of at least two years.
In one case, 27 members of a drug ring were found guilty of trafficking methcathinone across provinces between August 2015 and March 2016, the court said.
In south China’s Shenzhen, public security authorities have seized 10.4 tons of drugs over the past year.
During the past 12 months, local police uncovered nearly 2,600 drug cases and detained more than 3,300 drug dealers, Shenzhen’s public security bureau said yesterday.
Meanwhile, police reported 10,600 drug takers in the city that borders Hong Kong.
Deng Guangsheng, head of the narcotics control department under Shenzhen’s public security bureau, said police had intensified the fight against drugs since June last year.
Police raided four drug production factories and there was a 70 percent drop in the number of drug cases uncovered in other cities but originating from Shenzhen.
Local narcotics control authorities also offered 3.35 million yuan (US$509,000) in rewards for tip-offs leading to the uncovering of 447 drug cases.
In December 1987, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe June 26 as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. China marked the day this year with the theme “Healthy life, green and drug free.”