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12,000 Caught in online Dope Network Campaign

Shanghai--Police have arrested more than 12,000 suspects and seized 308.3 kilograms of illicit drugs in a nationwide crackdown on narcotics sold through online chat rooms, the Ministry of Public Security announced yesterday.

Police busted 144 drug rings involved in narcotics production and trafficking and 22 secret drug-producing sites in the campaign.

The drive was launched after the suspects were found using online video chat rooms to conduct sales and gather drug addicts, from across the country, said Liu Yujing, a senior narcotics control official with the ministry. 

The case came to light in March when police in the cities of Lanzhou and Xi'an in west China found that some netizens were trafficking drugs through online chat rooms, which were usually inaccessible to outsiders.

"The chat rooms had passwords and new faces could only enter after being introduced by acquaintances," said Man Niu, chief director of the narcotics control corps of Zhejiang Province police. "Sometimes the newcomers even had to show themselves taking drugs before being permitted to enter the rooms."

Police later found that the drug addicts in the chat rooms were from all over China. 

After months of detection the ministry launched a series of nationwide raids on September 2. Among the 12,125 arrested, 66.2 percent were under 35 years of age.