Over 40 Chinese officials sacked for taking drugs amid Golden Triangle crackdown

Forty-one grassroots party cadres in Chinese prefectures near the Golden Triangle have been punished for taking drugs as local authorities close in on rampant drug usage among its rank and file.

The 41 officials, all from Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in western Yunnan province, were expelled from the party, according to the local party disciplinary watchdog.

They included the head of the Armed Forces Department in Longchuan county, government office workers and retired officials, the Yunnan Commission of Disciplinary Inspection said, adding that all had since been sent for drug rehabilitation.

The Dehong government had in May introduced a regulation stipulating that all party members and government office workers caught for drug-related offences would be sacked from the party. Government officials and office workers are subject to regular urine tests as part of the crackdown on the rampant drug trade in the prefecture.

Those who apply for government jobs or are transferred from other areas to Dehong are also required to be tested for drug usage. Those who test positive are instantly disqualified.

Yunnan, which borders Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, is reportedly a key area where drugs are illegally smuggled into China.