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Officials of the Guangdong provincial people's conference yesterday called on authorities to step up efforts to curb drug-related crimes, saying the southern province was now a major base for producing and trafficking banned substances in the country.

"Guangdong has become a massive base for producing and trafficking drugs," said Lei Hu, an official with the investigation office of drug crimes under the Guangzhou public security bureau.

He said synthetic drugs such as ecstasy pills and "ice (crystal methamphetamine)", and many other "soft drugs", were now being produced in Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

"The province is also home to the largest number of drug addicts, drug varieties and manufacturers in the country," said Lei, a delegate to the provincial people's congress.

In a recent case, Chen Bingxi, the leader of a local drug syndicate in Guangdong, was convicted for being involved in what is believed to be the world's biggest "ice" producing and trafficking case.

Chen was accused of producing and trading 12.36 tons of methamphetamine, and selling 108.85 kg of heroin. A local court sentenced him to death last year.

"The production of drugs in the province is getting too serious to ignore," said Deng Weiqiang, Party chief of Guangzhou's Haizhu district.

"We need to intensify efforts to crack down on such crimes by introducing serious judicial punishments, or even death penalties, for convicted drug producers and traffickers," Deng said.

However, Lei felt that a major clampdown on the illegal activity was impossible unless more police officials get involved in the cleanup.

"The number of officials designated to fight drug crimes accounts for only one percent of the province's total police force," Lei said.

"We need more officials. And we need closer cooperation with industrial, commercial and chemical industries to fight the crime," he said, adding there was a lack of financial support, too.

（英语点津 Helen 编辑）

Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.

He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.