Beijing police burnt 224 kilograms of drugs with an estimated value of 100 million yuan, or 12 million US dollars, in the city's northwestern suburbs Friday, China Daily reported.

The drugs, mostly heroine, ice, marijuana and pills, were collected during raids against drug dealers and addicts in 2002 and 2003, it said.

The drug burning move took place on the 166th anniversary of the famous Humen Opium Destruction. On June 3, 1839, Lin Zexu, a senior official of the Qing Dynasty, ordered the destruction of about 1,000 tons of smuggled opium confiscated from foreign dealers at Humen in south China's Guangdong Province. His move was regarded as China's first battle against opium.

Beijing police have burnt drugs every two years since the late 1990s. In 2003, the city destroyed more than 600 kilograms of drugs.

Last year, Beijing drug enforcement agents uncovered more than 1,800 drug trafficking cases and captured more than 1,370 suspected drug dealers, confiscating nearly 74 kilograms of drugs, the newspaper quoted statistics provided by the municipal public security bureau.

Last November, Beijing police crashed down on a drug smuggling gang and seized nearly 14,6 kilograms of narcotics, the biggest drug case it had smashed since 1949.

In the first five months of this year, Beijing police uncovered more than 350 drug cases, seized 360 suspected dealers and confiscated more than 30 kilograms of drugs.

This year, the municipal government plans to carry out a citywide census of druggers, and provide free HIV tests for addicts who are receiving treatment at rehabilitation centers, Qiang Wei, a leading official in Beijing.

According to the municipal anti-drug committee, Beijing has more than 26,000 registered druggers, 88 percent of whom are under 35 years old.

By People's Daily Online