DEALERS PAY THE PRICE

While International Anti-Drug Day last week was marked in the West by
much hand-wringing over the evils of addictive chemical substances,
the Chinese authorities addressed the day in far more robust fashion.
Several drug dealers were taken out to execution grounds and shot.
Just how many convicted drugs traffickers and producers got a bullet
in the back of the head in honour of the day is difficult to say. The
government-controlled China Daily online newspaper contains reports
indicating there were executions in several provinces, but it is
impossible to know if these reports tell the full story. One article
said in Shanghai 1,300 people were invited to a university sports
stadium to witness the conclusion of the trial of three drug
traffickers who "were taken to an undisclosed location in the suburbs
to be shot immediately after they were sentenced."