A drug ring suspected of manufacturing crystal methamphetamine, were recently arrested in Hancheng City, Shaanxi Province.

Late last Wednesday, police officers from across the province stormed an underground crystal methamphetamine factory, detaining ten people on suspicion of manufacturing the drug, commonly known as "ice."

Already hailed as a success by the local Provincial Security Bureau, the raid ensured that police apprehended the gang before they were able to start distributing the drug.

During the raid, police seized over 3,000 "ice" crystals, 50 kilograms of raw materials and more than 20 kilograms of additives, along with a wide array of drug-making equipment.

Bai Shaokang, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Security Bureau stressed that the gang's operations weres "well planned," with the participation of domestic and overseas "criminal elements."

The suspects began to make preparations for drug production as early as December last year when they procured the majority of their raw materials from Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province.

In March, they hired an expert from Myanmar to give technical guidance in drug making.

The Provincial Security Bureau revealed that preliminary interrogations have discovered the gang had hoped to manufacture over 200,000 crystals during the May Day holiday period, at a value of over 6 million yuan (about US$750,000) on the local market.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2007)