Beijing police nab 40 pct more drug dealers

Police authorities in Beijing arrested 1,033 drug traffickers during the Jan.-May period, a sharp 40 percent increase from a year earlier.

Police in the capital uncovered 986 drug trafficking cases in the five months, up 41.1 percent year on year, Jiang Liangdong, deputy director of the Beijing Narcotics Control Committee, told a press briefing Wednesday.

Meanwhile, police nabbed 2,779 drug addicts, up 30.2 percent, and seized 88.7 kg of drugs, up 22 percent.

Over the past few years, the drug use has expanded among more low-income earners, rural migrants and people living in the suburbs, said Jiang, also vice director of the Beijing municipal public security bureau.

By the end of May, the number of registered drug users in Beijing had reached 25,000. Over the past few years, the number has been growing at an annual rate of 10 percent, Jiang said.

Apart from harsh penalties for drug dealers, the police have beefed up the publicity campaign on drug control and regular monitoring over recreation centers and public places amid the efforts to curtail drug use, he said.