77,000 Foreigners & Chinese Arrested for Drugs in China in 2021!

Source:Global Times

Chinese public security authorities solved 54,000 drug crime cases, arrested 77,000 suspects and seized 27 tons of drugs in 2021 as the country stepped up efforts in its national anti-drug campaign and strengthened international cooperation to crack down on drug crime.

The Ministry of Public Security said at a press conference on Wednesday that China has maintained a positive trend of falling rates of drug crime and the amount of drugs seized for many years in a row.

Huge progress has also been made in curbing the entry of drugs from foreign countries. In Southwest Chinas Yunnan Province, one of the border regions affected by drug crime, nearly 5,000 drug-related cases were solved, in which more than 5,600 suspects were arrested and 4.9 tons of drugs were seized.

A circle of drug crime investigation has been set up in provinces around Yunnan in order to cut off the internal drug circulation routes.

A similar mechanism has also been put in place in the "Greater Bay Area" of South Chinas Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces and East Chinas Fujian to prevent drugs from the "Golden Triangle" region from being smuggled into China by sea.

Chinas public security organs have made efforts to pursue fugitives both at home and abroad, and 150 drug lords of great importance have been arrested and brought to justice.

Authorities also added six new precursor chemicals to the list in 2021 and strengthened the investigation of raw materials for drugs, according to the conference.

China has carried out extensive international anti-drug law enforcement cooperation, in particular with Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and other neighboring countries.

China and Cambodia jointly shut down large-scale drug manufacturing factories in Cambodia at the end of 2021, and arrested 46 suspects and seized 2.95 tons of drugs with a market value of nearly 1.7 billion yuan.

At home, the Ministry of Public Security, together with the State Post Bureau, also launched a 100-day anti-drug campaign in the delivery industry, during which more than 1,700 cases of drug crimes were cracked, about 3,800 suspects were arrested and 4.3 tons of various drugs were seized, Zhao Zhongchen, deputy director of the National Narcotic Control Committee, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Also, 125 deliverymen were rewarded with a total of 848,000 yuan ($133,000) for providing tips about drug-trafficking.