Drug authorities in Guangdong Province's Shenzhen destroyed 1,164 kilograms of drugs Thursday to mark International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.

Police and customs officials confiscated the drugs in a total of 1,692 operations in the past year, officials with the municipal narcotics committee said at a press conference held at the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court on Thursday.

A total of 2,233 suspects involved in drug-related crimes were nabbed in the operations, the press conference was told.

The court sentenced a drug dealer named Qin Xianquan to death at a public trial on Thursday. Eight other dealers were sentenced to jail terms ranging from nine months to life.

Li Feng, director general of the municipal public security bureau, said the city still faced "a grim struggle" in dealing with drugs.

Drugs are produced and sold in large quantities in Shenzhen, Li said. Users of new drugs such as ecstasy and Ketamine are increasing in number. Drug-related crimes, along with the increase in HIV/AIDS cases, are disrupting social order, he said.

Police sent 11,463 addicts to compulsory drug rehabilitation centers in the past year, and the city government plans to open three methadone clinics to help opioid-dependent people stabilize and improve their lives, said the officials at the press conference, which was jointly held by the court, the procuratorate, the municipal public security bureau, and Shenzhen Customs.

The authorities plan to launch a large-scale drug-awareness drive in June. Activities include distributing CDs about drug awareness among students, screening films in housing communities about the dangers of using drugs, and handing out educational brochures.

More than 100 students of Hongling Middle School will take part in a drug-awareness event at Moi Square in the Huaqiangbei area Saturday, the press conference was told.

In another development, three Africans were caught trying to bring heroin into Shenzhen through Luohu Checkpoint last December, Shenzhen Customs announced Wednesday. They belonged to the same drug gang, according to Customs officials.

A Kenyan man, who entered Shenzhen through Luohu Checkpoint at about 5 p.m. Dec. 12, was found carrying 200 grams of high-purity heroin in his abdomen. He later admitted he planned to take the heroin to Guangzhou.

The next day a Ghanaian man was caught carrying 540 grams of heroin in his trousers.

It took Customs officials nearly 10 hours to confirm that a Guinean woman was carrying heroin in her body in December last year, as she claimed that she was pregnant and refused a medical checkup. But she was later found to be carrying 795 grams of heroin in her body, Customs officials said.

(Shenzhen Daily June 22, 2007)