China had seized 2,182.3 kilograms of "ice" drug (methamphetamines) from April to July, up 9.5 percent over the same period last year, said a spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing on Tuesday.

In the four months, China also seized more than 370,000 ecstasy pills, an increase of 54 percent over the same period in 2004, and closed down 27 underground factories producing methamphetamines and ecstasy, said Liu Yuejin, deputy director of the narcotics control bureau under the ministry.

The Chinese government launched a nationwide "people's war" against drugs in April. During the campaign, local public security bureaus and cultural, industrial and commercial departments strengthened their crackdown on drug taking and trafficking in entertainment places, and seized a batch of drug users, Liu said at a press conference here.

From January to June, police in south China's Guangdong Province uncovered 206 entertainment places involved in drug abuses, captured 1,917 drug users and 15 suspected drug traffickers, said Liu.

In addition, the province also closed down 44 entertainment places, ordered 37 others to halt business for rectification, and revoked the business licenses of eight such places.

In east China's Shandong Province, a special campaign dubbed "summer storm" was launched to eliminate drugs from public singing and dancing places. And in the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, 29 suspected drug traffickers and users were captured in eight local KTV (karaoke and music TV) clubs.

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang in April urged all localities and departments concerned to launch a massive "people's war" against drugs, cut off the source and channels of drug trafficking, and severely punish all drug-related crimes.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2005)