BEIJING: A giant public event was held here the other day to sentence 38 drug dealers and distributors in Lufeng City, a major drug workshop in Guangdong Province.
About 10,000 people attended the rally jointly held by Shanwei Intermediate People’s Court and Lufeng Municipal People’s Court.
Thirteen of the defendants received death sentences, eight death sentences with a two-year reprieve and the others long prison terms on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Local authorities said they hope the public sentencing will showcase the government’s hard line on drugs.
Guangdong is the country’s largest producer of methamphetamine. More than a third of the methamphetamine consumed in China was made in villages administered by Lufeng.
A campaign in the city over the past two years has seen 3,329 kilograms of methamphetamine seized and 668 suspects arrested, said Zheng Jia, secretary of Lufeng’s municipal committee of the Communist Party of China.
Chen Wei, deputy chief judge of Lufeng People’s Court, said the rally was held to raise awareness of drug laws and act as a deterrent against drug crime.
Cai Kun, a high school student who attended the rally, said drug production and trading in his hometown of Jiazi used to be rampant, but the campaign has reduced it.
“We have seen many wanted posters for drug suspects on local TV. We have also learned that drugs have destroyed a lot of families,” he said.
