GET-TOUGH POLICY IN NARCOTICS FIGHT

Drug control agencies and all levels of government are being urged to join
forces in the war against narcotics dealers and drug-related crimes on the
eve of International Anti-Drug Day.

In a stark warning to those who profit from a trade that blights and
destroys lives, three leading traffickers were Wednesday executed in South
China.

The same day, and also in Guangdong Province, judges sentenced 18 other
defendants convicted of drug dealing to either the death penalty or life
imprisonment.

Illegal drug trafficking not only brings about rampant criminal behaviour
but also disturbs the public order and social stability, Zhou Yongkang,
head of the China Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC), told a recent
conference.

In an all out effort to crack down on illegal drug trafficking, Chinese
police arrested 90,000 suspects for drug-related offences last year while
confiscating 9.29 tons of heroin, 3.19 tons of crystal methamphetamine
(ice) and 3 million ecstasy pills and more than 300 tons of chemical
narcotic elements.

Still, China's drug fighters have to deal with new problems and tougher
situations in narcotics control, said Zhou, who is also the minister of
public security.

Owing largely to easy access to the notorious Golden Triangle, a narcotics
hotbed located on the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, the nation has
witnessed increasing drug infiltration.

Drug traffickers Wednesday wait for trail in Changsha, capital city of
Central China's Hunan Province.[newsphoto.com.cn] Drug transportation and
distribution in Yunnan and Guangdong provinces has been rampant recently.

In a move from the past, the illegal production and trade of new types of
drugs such as ice, ecstasy and other chemically-based narcotics are
increasing rapidly, officials said.

To deal with this grave situation, the NNCC has hammered out an ambitious
plan to fight back.

A large-scale education campaign has been launched throughout the nation
among youngsters, the migrant population, nightlife workers andchemical
factory staff that manufacture products which can be made into narcotics.

Another measure is the construction of more drug-free communities and
counties, said the minister.

To root out drugs at the very beginning, Chinese police aim to co-operate
with frontier authorities and customs, to crackdown on smuggling in
drug-saturated border areas or regions, Zhou said.

The latest statistics from the General Administration of Customs indicate
that from January to May, customs departments at all levels have dealt with
29 drug trafficking cases with the confiscation 47.9 kilograms of drugs.

The three drug dealers executed yesterday were apprehended in Shenzhen,
Guangdong Province in May 1999, with 7,654 ecstasy bills, 2,310 grams of
heroin and a large quantity of raw drug materials.

They were sentenced by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, which also
dealt with the 18 other drug traffickers Wednesday.

Shanghai Customs officials Wednesday announced a bust in a major smuggling
case of psychotropic substances found in January and February, confiscating
more than 8,000 diazepam pills.