China detains over 11,000 suspects amid narcotics control campaign

The Chinese narcotics control authority uncovered 10,715 drug-related criminal cases and arrested 11,496 suspects since a yearlong anti-drug campaign was launched in January, the China Police Daily reported on Monday.

A total of 11.4 tons of narcotics and 794 tons of drug-making materials had been seized as of May 15, said the paper, citing figures released by the China National Narcotics Control Commission.

Launched by the commission, the special campaign has taken southwest China’s Yunnan Province as its major frontline in the battle against drugs.

Yunnan borders Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle, an area notorious for its association with drug production and trafficking.

Despite the continued efforts to curb drug-related crime along the southwestern border in the past two years, drug trafficking from the Golden Triangle has been on the rise, posing a major threat to China.

A total of 34.8 tons of narcotics from the Golden Triangle were seized in 2019, up 18 percent year on year.