Two years after a major crackdown on illegal drugs in a coastal village in Guangdong province, the environment has been restored and fearful residents have returned to their homes.

Twenty percent of the population in Boshe had been involved in drug production or trafficking.

"Villagers have now begun to work their farmland," said Cai Longqiu, Party chief of the village in Lufeng, a city in eastern Guangdong.

"Those who had left the village to find jobs outside are returning, as social order and the environment have greatly improved."

The situation in Boshe was vastly different at the end of 2013. Waste and toxic water discharged by methamphetamine production had polluted farmland and caused the village's river and streams to run black.

"The village was in chaos and hygiene was also very poor, with rubbish heaps everywhere," Cai said. "Many villagers chose to leave Boshe - which was dubbed the No 1 village for drug production on the mainland - to find employment outside because of the drug production."

Authorities said that more than 20 percent of the families in Boshe, which has a registered population of more than 14,000, were found to be involved in or linked to the production and trafficking of drugs.

During a special operation early on Dec 29, 2013, more than 3,000 police officers from outside Lufeng raided Boshe, seizing 2,925 kilograms of methamphetamine, 260 kg of the date-rape drug ketamine and more than 23 metric tons of raw materials used in drug production.

The sweep targeted 77 drug sites in the village, and police seized nine guns, ammunition, a homemade bomb and many knives.

Police detained 182 suspects, including Cai Dongjia, former local Party chief and village head. They also smashed 18 major drug gangs during the operation.

Before the crackdown, it was estimated that more than one-third of China's methamphetamine production originated in Boshe.

Authorities have done more than merely make arrests and seize drugs in an effort to restore Boshe's vitality.

Yang Xusong, the mayor of Shanwei, said more than 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) has been invested over the past two years to help poor families, construct water conservancy projects, upgrade the underground drainage system and to improve the environment and polluted farmland.

"Many villagers now know the harm that drugs can do, so they stay away from them and actively cooperate with police to fight drug crimes," Cai said.

One villager surnamed Li said great improvements have been made in recent months. "Police now patrol frequently in the village and visit local households every day to ensure good social order," Li said.

Roads have been named and all houses numbered. Drug producers and traffickers had previously prevented road-naming and houses being numbered in an effort to make it difficult for police to investigate criminal activity.

Li, who is in her 40s, and her husband returned to the village at the start of 2015 after hearing of the improvements. They started to grow rice and peanuts on their farmland.

Cai Longqiu said Boshe relies economically on the production of rice, sweet potatoes, peanuts and aquatic products.

Lin Yizhi, a senior drug enforcement police officer in Lufeng, said drug and related crimes have been brought under control after two years of intense efforts. No new drug production bases have been detected in Boshe in the past two years, Lin said.

Only 58 drug production sites were investigated in Lufeng in 2015, a reduction of 50 percent year-on-year, Lin said. "Police have never relaxed their vigilance after the Boshe crackdown," he said.

However, in the province as a whole, the news is not as good.

Police across Guangdong seized more than 34.8 tons of illegal drugs in the first 11 months of 2015, a 67.5 percent year-on-year increase, said Guo Shaobo, deputy director-general of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Public Security.

Police detained 32,000 suspects after busting 1,708 drug gangs in the same period, an increase of 15.4 percent and 57.9 percent, respectively.

Guo said the authorities understand that the fight against drugs is a long-term and difficult task in Guangdong, which has been the focus of China's anti-drug campaign for many years.

"Overseas drug traffickers never stop using different kinds of ways to smuggle drugs in and out of the province and build Guangdong into a drug production and distribution center," he said.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/04/2016 page1)