China's drug enforcement agents uncovered 45,378 cases of drug illegal drug activities, captured 38,765 people suspected of criminal involvement with drugs and seized 4,035 kilograms of heroin between January and mid-June of this year.
According to authoritative sources from the Chinese capital, this achievement comes as China steps up its nationwide efforts to deal with drug crimes, and a on-going nationwide anti-drug crackdown, launched by the National Narcotics Control Commission, started in February and is scheduled to continue until the end of July.
Last year, China's drug enforcement agencies seized a total of 13.2 tons of heroin and 4.8 tons of "ice".
Drug abuse has given rise to numerous social problems in China. A considerable proportion of the robberies and burglaries across the country are carried out by drug addicts. Of more than 30,000 people registered as being infected by HIV in China, 68.7 percent were infected because of using intravenous drugs.
By the end of 2001, 2,051 counties in China recorded drug crimes, including 205 in which drug abusers number more than 1,000.Drug addicts registered with police bureaus nationwide exceed 900,000, including over 740,000 heroin addicts.
To cope with the stark situation, the Party Central Committee, the State Council and local party and government organizations have attached great importance to anti-drug work, kept improving the relevant laws and regulations and dealt still harder blows at criminal drug activities.
(People's Daily June 26, 2002)
