Chinese police confiscated a record amount of narcotics in 2015, 102.5 tonnes in total, for an increase of 48.7 percent year on year, according to a report released by the National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC) on February 18.

The report said the police handled 165,000 drug-related criminal cases in 2015 and captured 194,000 suspected criminals.

Liu Yuejin, deputy director of the NNCC, said the prevalence of narcotics in China is generally under control, but several problems have arisen, including the growing popularity of synthetic drugs, greater inflow of drugs from overseas, and domestic drug production.

According to the report, 531,000 people without previous records were punished for drug abuse, with 80.5 percent punished for synthetic drug use, including methamphetamine (ice), magu (a stimulant composed of methamphetamine and caffeine), ecstacy and ketamine.

In the first three quarters of 2015, 93.8 percent of confiscated heroin and 87.9 percent of ice tablets came from the Golden Triangle in southeast Asia.

The report also said 79 tonnes of domestically produced narcotics were confiscated in 2015, accounting for 77.3 percent of the total amount seized.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2016)