Gang mixes drugs in drinks
By Leeann Li |
November 3, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
POLICE have busted a cross-provincial drug trafficking ring in which they arrested 24 suspects in Haikou, capital of Hainan Province.
Police said gang members added methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy into milk tea and coffee powders along with other beverages and disguised themselves as licensed businessman, adding that they earned millions of yuan in about six months, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Once purchased, water was added to the powders to make the drug tainted drinks.
The beverages with the drugs tasted almost the same as they would without the drugs, said Li Nan, a police officer in Haikou.
Police discovered the operation in June in a crackdown on a drug-selling ring and it took officers three months to learn how the whole network operated, Xinhua said.
The alleged kingpin, surnamed Guo, asked underlings to buy drugs from a supplier in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province. The drugs were mixed into the drink powders in a 150-square-meter residence in Haikou and then sold.
"It was very profitable," Guo was cited as saying by police. "An ecstasy pill and several 'ice' pills only cost 50 yuan (US$8.01), but I could sell the drinks for hundreds of yuan,"
Lower doses than usual were used in the drink powders.
Nearly 80 percent of the drug-tainted drink powders were sold to bars, clubs and other entertainment venues. Most customers knew they were getting a drink spiked with a drug, but some were fooled into drinking them, Xinhua said.
Police said gang members added methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy into milk tea and coffee powders along with other beverages and disguised themselves as licensed businessman, adding that they earned millions of yuan in about six months, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Once purchased, water was added to the powders to make the drug tainted drinks.
The beverages with the drugs tasted almost the same as they would without the drugs, said Li Nan, a police officer in Haikou.
Police discovered the operation in June in a crackdown on a drug-selling ring and it took officers three months to learn how the whole network operated, Xinhua said.
The alleged kingpin, surnamed Guo, asked underlings to buy drugs from a supplier in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province. The drugs were mixed into the drink powders in a 150-square-meter residence in Haikou and then sold.
"It was very profitable," Guo was cited as saying by police. "An ecstasy pill and several 'ice' pills only cost 50 yuan (US$8.01), but I could sell the drinks for hundreds of yuan,"
Lower doses than usual were used in the drink powders.
Nearly 80 percent of the drug-tainted drink powders were sold to bars, clubs and other entertainment venues. Most customers knew they were getting a drink spiked with a drug, but some were fooled into drinking them, Xinhua said.
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