|
CHINA> National
![]() |
|
Drugs destroyed to mark Humen Opium Destruction
By Cui Jia in Beijing, Cao Li in Shanghai and Hu Meidong in Fuzhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-06-03 22:49 Beijing police Wednesday set fire to 393.5 kg of illegal drugs to mark the 170th anniversary of the famous Humen Opium Destruction. A majority of the banned substances destroyed included heroin, methamphetamine (ice), cocaine and marijuana. Shi Dawei, the political commissar of the capital's anti-drug committee, said the police Wednesday destroyed "only about half of the drugs they seized" between 2006 and 2008.
On June 3, 1839, Lin Zexu, a senior official of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), ordered that 1,000 tons of smuggled opium, confiscated from foreign dealers in China, be set on fire in Humen,Guangdong province. The mass opium destruction is known as China's first battle against drugs. A new memorial hall dedicated to Lin Zexu was also opened to the public in Fuzhou Wednesday. Beijing police, armed with machine guns, escorted the bulletproof vehicles loaded with drugs to a northwestern suburban area, where the banned substances were thrown into an industrial furnace Wednesday. Between 2006 and 2008, Beijing's drug enforcement agents uncovered more than 13,860 cases of drug trafficking and captured more than 16,600 suspected dealers, according to the Beijing public security bureau. Chinahandled about 62,000 cases related to drug trafficking over the past year and arrested some 74,000 suspects across the country, the bureau said. In the past year, the country's police seized 4.4 tons of heroin, 6.2 tons of "ice", 1 million "ecstasy" pills, 5.3 tons of ketamine, 2.2 tons of marijuana, 1.4 tons of opium and almost a ton of cocaine. "In recent years, international drug traffickers have found new ways to smuggle drugs into Beijing. Sending drugs across borders via air-mail is the latest trick up their sleeves," Liu Shaowu, deputy director of Beijing anti-drug committee, told China Daily. "During the Beijing Olympics, 11 foreign smugglers were arrested with 10.9 kg of drugs." Liu said: "Three underground drug markets inBeijinghave been completely destroyed, and crackdowns on drug dealers will remain one of the bureau's top priorities in the coming years." |
黄龙县| 闽清县| 乌兰察布市| 那坡县| 上思县| 建阳市| 怀仁县| 开江县| 嘉兴市| 宜良县| 厦门市| 江孜县| 来安县| 凤庆县| 绥中县| 大足县| 吕梁市| 湘阴县| 中卫市| 同江市| 东兰县| 山丹县| 黑山县| 泸溪县| 志丹县| 冀州市| 嵊泗县| 郴州市| 眉山市| 临泽县| 河东区| 靖宇县| 清流县| 南丰县| 临桂县| 迭部县| 商洛市| 屏东县| 福海县| 马边| 司法|