FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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China’s war on drugs shows serious results

China’s war on drugs shows serious results

China has seen a continuous decline in drug-related criminal cases since 2015, indicating that such offences have been effectively controlled under the country’s intensified fight against drugs and harsh punishment for those found with, China’s top court said.

Last year, Chinese courts concluded 56,000 drug-related criminal cases, down almost 60 per cent compared with that in 2015. In that year, the number of such cases was 139,000, reaching a record high, according to a statistic released by the Supreme People’s Court on Saturday.

Crimes of trafficking drugs, illegally possessing drugs and accommodating others to use drugs have dropped over the past five years, but those who manufacture new types of drugs have increased, it said.

Drug making on large scales has been controlled under the nation’s continuous crackdown, but people producing drugs in small groups or in different areas have been emerging, it said.

It noted that the Golden triangle is still a major source of drugs in China, and those narcotics were found to be mainly brought into the country through international logistics or smuggled by sea.

Heroin, methamphetamine and ketamine were the top three drugs involved in relevant crimes, it said but added that offences related to new types of narcotics, such as synthetic cannabinoids and methcathinone, are rising across the country in recent years.

Additionally, many drug offenders have been found to use the internet and information technologies to commit drug-related crimes, bringing a big challenge to the country’s drug control, it added.

In the face of serious and complicated drug-related offences, Chinese courts have always given harsher punishments to relevant criminals over the past decade, with a felony rate of 23.09 per cent, which means a prison term of five or more years, it said.

For example, drug criminals who harmed youngsters and those who were armed to cover their drug offences or participated in organized or international drug activities were severely punished, it said, adding that convicts should be sentenced to death if their behaviours could be deemed “extremely serious” under Criminal Law.

While threatening criminals with a harsher punishment, courts nationwide have also increased fines to the convicts over the past few years in a bid to prevent them from using their financial gains to re-offend, it said.

It added that crimes caused by drug-related offences, including intentional injury, intentional homicide, robbery and rap were also resolutely combated and harshly penalized, it added.

China daily

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China’s war on drugs shows serious results

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