Huizhou police detain 70 in drug busts

Police have detained 70 suspects after three major drug gangs were busted in Huizhou, Guangdong province, during recent operations, local authorities have said.

Meanwhile, more than 800 kilograms of ketamine, commonly known as K-powder, was seized when police swooped on two drug production locations in Huidong county, which is under the administration of Huizhou, according to a press release from the Huizhou city bureau of public security.

Located in the eastern coastal region of Guangdong province, Huidong is a major K-powder production base in the Chinese mainland, the press release said.

Police authorities said the K-powder produced in Huidong usually accounts for more than 20 percent of the country's total.

In addition to the domestic market, the drugs produced in Huidong are sold to Taiwan, the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and to Southeast Asian nations and regions, police said.

Huang Wenjian, deputy director of the Huizhou city bureau of public security, said his bureau set up a special task force to investigate drug gangs in November, after he received reports from local residents.

Special operations were launched in March in cooperation with their counterparts in Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

In Huizhou alone, more than 700 police officers participated in the operations, Huang said.

Police also seized a large quantity of raw materials, production equipment and tools during the operations.

"The crackdown has dealt a heavy blow to drug production and related crimes in Huizhou and in the eastern part of Guangdong," Huang said.

"But fighting drugs and related crimes in his city is a long-term and touch-and-go task, as Guangdong has been the focus of China's anti-drug campaign for many years," he added.

Huang hinted that more special operations would be launched to fight the drug trade and related crimes in following months, to help bring drug crimes under control.

According to police statistics, the southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong and Macao, has more than 370,000 registered drug addicts, representing more than one-sixth of the country's total.

Both domestic and foreign drug traffickers and producers have continuously tried to build prosperous Guangdong, which provides convenient highway and railway transportation, into a major drug distribution center on the Chinese mainland.

Huang said police across Huizhou have cracked five major drug cases, destroying eight secret drug production bases since October.

Under the firm stance from police on fighting the drug trade, the price of K-powder has soared in the local illicit market.

Police sources said a kilogram of K-powder has increased to more than 18,000 yuan ($2,900), from 12,000 yuan in November.

This is the first time the price of K-powder has surpassed that of methamphetamine, which is commonly known as ice, in the local underground drug market.