Guangdong arrests 11,473 drug traffickers in H1

Police in South China's Guangdong Province cracked 10,559 drug trafficking cases and detained 11,473 suspects in the first half of 2013, new data has showed. Local police also stormed 132 drug production bases and seized 5.26 tonnes of drugs during the six-month period, officials with the provincial public security bureau said at a conference on Wednesday. By the end of June, the number of registered drug users in Guangdong reached 373,500, accounting for one sixth of the country's total, the officials said. Local police face severe challenges in tackling drug crimes as every prefecture-level cities in Guangdong has drug production bases and in some rural towns, many extended families engage in drug production and trafficking. Lufeng is a major production base of methamphetamine, also known as "ice," as about 30 percent of the drug seized nationwide in recent months came from the city. Huidong is a major production base of ketamine, with about 20 percent of the drug seized across the country in recent years sourced from the county.