China publishes typical cases of drug-related crimes

China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) Tuesday published 10 typical cases involving drug-related crimes and felonies linked with drug abuse, heard by courts since 2019.

In a statement issued ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on Friday, the top court reiterated its stance to strictly punish anyone involved in such crimes.

In three of the cases, the convicts were sentenced to death. Among these cases, two involved production, trafficking and sales of drugs, while in another case the convict, who was a drug addict and believed to be mentally unstable, brutally murdered a seven-year-old.

Li Shaoping, SPC vice president, said the number of relevant cases dealt with by Chinese courts dropped from a peak of 139,000 in 2015 by over 38 percent to 85,800 last year, thanks to the country's stringent crackdown on drug-related crimes.

However, Li noted the situation remains complicated as the courts have seen a rise in cases involving drug-production in China.

Li vowed concrete measures to fight against drug-related crimes and ensure criminals are promptly brought to justice.