Chinese courts have sentenced 30,959 criminals for drug-related offenses in the first five months of the year.
Nearly a quarter of the 30,959 criminlas were sentenced to more than five years in prison, life in prison or death, Supreme People's Court spokesman Sun Jungong told a press conference today.
Drug-related crime not only results in higher rates of drug abuse, but can also trigger other crime, including violent crime, Sun said.
"The courts will severely crack down on drug-related crime and prevent potential hazards posed by such crime," Sun told the media in connection with the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The day was established by the UN in 1988 and has been observed annually ever since.
Yesterday, two men were executed in east China's Fujian Province for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin.
Yang Jiande and Yuan Tingchang were executed after the Supreme People's Court approved their death sentences, according to the local court.
Yang was convicted of hiring people to transport nearly 4.9 kg of methamphetamine and illegally possessing five guns, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Yuan was convicted of purchasing and selling 1.78 kg heroin in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, between February and July 2010.
Separately, another man in east China's Zhejiang Province was also executed for drug trafficking today after the Supreme People's Court approved his death sentence, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Wenzhou City.
