South China's Guangdong Province is home to one sixth of China's drug addicts and produces more illegal narcotics than any other province, according to a report released by the Guangdong Public Security Department on Tuesday.
By the end of June, the number of registered addicts in Guangdong had reached 373,500, about one sixth of the country's total. The illicit production of, trade in and use of narcotics in Guangdong ranked first in all provinces and municipalities, the Guangzhou-based Information Times quoted the report as saying.
Experts believe that Guangdong's economic development and the province's geographical location played a role in its drug trade.
"Guangdong Province was one of the first areas that benefited from the country's reform and opening-up, which means people here tend to have more spare money. Also, the province is adjacent to Yunnan Province and close to the Golden Triangle. Drug dealers can obtain drugs across the border and easily ship them via Yunnan," Liu Tao, an expert in crime investigation from the People's Public Security University of China, told the Global Times.
Police vowed to combat the drug trade in the area. Police raided 132 drug production bases and seized 5.26 tons of drugs in the first half of 2013. A total of 11,473 suspects were detained, recently released data has shown.
Man commits suicide, rescued by his wife in NE China
Feedback
RSS
