Chinese government starts crackdown on Ecstasy

The Chinese government has also started its own crackdown against the now popular drug ‘Ecstasy,’ the National Bureau of Investigation said yesterday.

"The Chinese government now has a program against the drug trade. They even hold public executions of those caught dealing in illegal drugs," Wycoco said.

Wycoco said NBI anti-drug trafficking operatives briefed their Chinese counterparts during a recent visit to Beijing. One of the tactics now being employed by the Chinese government against suspected drug traffickers include putting to shame their families.

"There is a crackdown on suspected drug dealers. In Xiamen Province, if your family is involved in shabu dealing, they (government officials) will publicly announce your family name," he said.

Over the weekend, the NBI scored big in its war against drug trafficking with the arrest of an undocumented Chinese male believed to be a major courier of Ecstasy into the country. Also seized during the operation were 600 tablets of Ecstasy, also known as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), from Jia Li, 24, of 558 Tomas Mapua Street, Binondo, Manila.

MDMA has no approved medical use. It was discovered in Germany in 1913 and patented by a pharmaceutical company in 1914. It was intended as a weight-loss (anorectic) drug, but because of its side-effects MDMA was never marketed. Ecstasy has fast become popular among rich teenagers who frequent rave dance parties. An expensive "upper," each Ecstasy tablet costs at least P1,400, said the NBI. According to an NBI insider, Jia was arrested following the arrest of another Ecstasy pusher who pointed to him as the source of the drug.