38 DRUG DEALERS KILLED IN CHINA

China has gone on a campaign of executions of drug traffickers over the
past week, putting at least 38 convicted drug dealers to death.

The executions are part of a nationwide crackdown on drugs. The state media
reported at the weekend that seven drug traffickers were executed in
Beijing on Thursday and Friday.

State media also reported that 6600 people have been arrested in Beijing
between January 1999 and May this year on drug-related charges. During the
same period, 949 people were convicted in the capital on drug trafficking
or possession charges. Of these, 86 were given death sentences.

Any one convicted of trafficking 50 grams or more of heroin in China faces
the death penalty.

The recent flurry of executions - China put to death at least 1077 last
year according to human rights group Amnesty International - reflects
growing concern in China at the rising trade and abuse of narcotics. It
also follows a visit to China last week by the director of the US Office of
National Drug Control Policy, General Barry McCaffrey.