A police officer guards trunks of illicit drugs before they were destroyed in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, yesterday. Authorities set to fire about 638 kilograms of illicit drugs including heroin and methamphetamine in the event on the eve of World Anti-Drug Day. The Ministry of Public Security said police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand had arrested 1,300 suspects and seized 3.9 tons of drugs during a two-month anti-drug campaign called "Safe River" that began in April. The number of registered drug users in the nation reached 2.14 million by the end of March.
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THE number of registered drug users in China had reached 2.14 million by the end of March, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.
About 83.6 percent were male. Half of them were aged 19 to 35, 44.3 percent 36 to 59, 0.7 percent under 18 and 0.6 percent over 60.
The ministry said the percentage of users addicted to natural drugs fell from 70.5 percent in 2010 to 60.6 percent last year.
The number of synthetic drug users, meanwhile, had risen from 2010's 55.6 percent to 72.6 percent in 2012.
Synthetic drug abuse rates are higher in younger users, the ministry said, with 86.5 percent of drug users under 18 abusing synthetic drugs.
The ministry also said Internet-based drug sales were on the rise and police across the country were working together to crack down on online activities.
In October 2011, Chinese police arrested 12,125 suspects in a nationwide campaign against Internet-based drug activities.
Meanwhile, two men were executed in east China's Fujian Province yesterday for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin, the Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court said.
Yang Jiande was convicted of hiring people to transport nearly 4.9 kilograms of methamphetamine in 2010 and Yuan Tingchang was convicted of buying and selling 1.78 kilograms of heroin in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, between February and July 2010.
In a separate case, a drug trafficker in east China's Zhejiang Province was executed, the Intermediate People's Court in Wenzhou said. The man surnamed Chen had bought 3 kilograms of methamphetamine in central Hubei Province in 2011 and was selling it in Wenzhou.
The court also sentenced a 49-year-old man surnamed Luo and a 32-year-old man surnamed Wei to death for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin in 2012.
In a joint operation called "Safe River," police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have arrested 1,300 suspects and seized 3.9 tons of drugs since April.
The ministry said drug-related crimes on the Mekong River has been effectively contained.
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Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/06/26/more-addicts-turning-to-synthetic-drugs/
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