NEWS - Chinese Police Deal with 180

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Subject: NEWS - Chinese Police Deal with 180,000 Drug Cases in 1998

Chinese Police Deal with 180,000 Drug Cases in 1998

               Xinhua
               10-JUN-99

               BEIJING (June 10) XINHUA - Chinese police dealt
               with 180,000 drug cases involving more than
               230,000 people last year, the Public Security
               Ministry has reported. 

               Police seized 7.3 tons of heroin, 1.6 tons of the
               drug ice", and 5.1 tons of marijuana last year.
               These were up 34.3 percent, 20.5 percent, and 137
               percent respectively from the figures the year
               before, vice-minister Bai Jingfu said at a National
               Narcotics Control Commission meeting here today. 

               More than 34,000 people were arrested, and some
               27,000 sentenced and no large-scale growing of
               opium poppies has been discovered since the ban
               on poppies was enforced, Bai said. 

               He emphasized that the anti-narcotics work has
               won great support from the public as a result of the
               national exhibit that toured the country last year,
               attracting 160 million visitors. 

               China established 860 drug rehabilitation centers,
               using different methods such as work, education,
               and medical treatment to get 140,000 people off
               drugs. 

               A total of 344.5 tons of chemical products used for
               making drugs was confiscated last year, Bai said. 

               International law enforcement and training
               cooperation last year with other countries like the
               United States, Canada, Japan, France, Australia,
               Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam also helped, he said.