BEIJING, Sept. 20 -- Guangdong public security department has upgraded a low-level drug-control section to a full bureau and set by special taskforces at every government level to tackle against the province's drug problem.

    "There is already a drug-control section, but it is at a very low level. By making it into a bureau, the government department is allocating more resources to drug-control work to make it more effective," said an unnamed Zhongshan University security expert, adding that the creation of a bureau to control the drug problem indicated the government's determination and commitment to the drug issue.

    The drug-control bureau, one of the only four bureaus in the provincial public security department, will be directed by Yang Jianghua, who previously headed the economic crime section.

    Guangdong already has a drug control office that reported to the Party, but the university expert said the office was only tasked with gauging the overall situation and providing directions on how to deal with it. "The actual work has always been undertaken by police," he said.

    Earlier reports had said that the upgrading of the office could improve anti-drug officers' intelligence-gathering capability and ensure greater efficiency in investigations.

    In the first eight months of this year, Guangdong police broke 3,968 drug cases and arrested 4,239 people, seizing 215kg of heroin, 770kg of ice and more than a million ecstasy pills, among other types of narcotics. Statistics from the same period last eyar were unavailable, but the figures are known to have risen. Repeated raids on entertainment centers led to the closure of 44, while 37 were warned to clean up their act, and commerce and culture bureaus were asked to withdraw 23 licenses.

    The new move was welcomed by government officials. Li Ling, the deputy director of the Guangdong Baiyun Voluntary Drug Rehabilitation Center, said the establishment of the bureau would put more specialized people on the front line of the drug war.

    However, Li also urged the government to strenghten its capacity on rehabilitation.Enditem

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)