South China city offers cash rewards to drug trafficking informants

GUANGZHOU - Lufeng, a hotbed of methamphetamine production and sales in South China's Guangdong province, has offered cash rewards of up to 8 million yuan (1.16 million U.S. dollars) to informants who help crack maritime drug smuggling cases, according to local police.

Rewards ranging from 500,000 to 8 million yuan will be given based on the amount of drugs seized in each case, said Lin Yizhi, head of the local police.

"If less than 100 kilograms of drugs are confiscated, the informant will receive 500,000 yuan. For 100 to 200 kilograms of drugs the reward is 1 million yuan, and 8 million yuan for at least one tonne of drugs," Lin said.

Lufeng has been under the radar of the National Narcotic Control Commission after it emerged as a major meth production base in 2008. Intensified police crackdowns on overland drug smuggling in recent years has pushed many traffickers to transport drugs by sea.

In February 2016, police in eight cities within the province seized a total of 3.32 tonnes of meth, including two tonnes found on a fishing boat berthed at Lucheng Port.