Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province cracked 22,946
drug-related cases, nabbed 25,728 criminal suspects and seized
10.75 tons of narcotics of various types in 2005, the first year of
the nationwide campaign against drugs.
The achievements came after the provincial government earmarked
special funds for the local anti-drug campaign and reinforced the
crackdown on the production, purchase, transport and use of drugs,
and intensified anti-drug education among drug addicts and common
people, according to Meng Sutie, head of the provincial public
security bureau.
Yunnan is a major route for drugs smuggled out of Southeast
Asia's "Golden Triangle" region of China, Laos, Myanmar and
Thailand.
The Chinese government initiated the "people's war against
drugs" in April last year. Since then, a series of achievements
have been made in detecting the source of drugs, curbing the
harmful influence of drug crimes and controlling the number of drug
addicts.
Customs houses across China handled 9,627 smuggling cases in
2005, which involved a combined goods value of 9.85 billion yuan
(US$1.23 billion), figures from the General Administration of
Customs show.
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2006)