Guangdong police uncover more drug gangs

Police have identified 113 suspects after three major drug gangs were busted in Huizhou, Guangdong province, during special operations on Wednesday morning.

The suspects include three Taiwan residents who were suspected of selling drugs produced in Guangdong to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao as well as to other countries and regions, according to Guo Shaobo, deputy director of the Guangdong Department of Public Security.

"Meanwhile Guangdong police are seeking help from other nations and regions to help identify escaped drug traffickers who have come from abroad through the Interpol channels," Guo said at a press conference in the Guangdong provincial capital on Thursday afternoon.

"Guangdong attracts the country's largest number of foreign drug traffickers who come to hide in Guangzhou, Foshan, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta," Guo said.

And both domestic and overseas drug traffickers and producers have continuously tried to build Guangdong, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and provides convenient transportation, into a major drug distribution center, Guo said.

Guangdong police, together with public security units in Yunnan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, seized 375 kilograms of ketamine, commonly known as K-powder, 40 kg of cocaine and more than 20,000 ecstasy pills during the operations, which were launched concurrently in 10 cities within five provinces at 4 am on Wednesday.

Police busted two secret drug production locations and four warehouses, and seized plenty of raw materials, production equipment and tools during the operations, in which more than 2,000 officers participated.

In addition to domestic markets, the drugs produced in Guangdong have also been sold to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, Indonesia and other southeast Asian countries and regions, Guo said.

In Huizhou alone, police detained 77 suspects after they destroyed a secret drug production base and four warehouses. And 13 other suspects were detained in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Shaoguan and Shanwei.

Also, three suspects were detained in Yunnan, four in Jiangsu, 14 in Jiangxi and another two in Fujian. An underground drug production base was also raided in Jiangxi.