Chinese law enforcement officials thwarted the nation's biggest illegal sale of triazolam tablets, an anesthetic, a Ministry of Public Security official announced yesterday.

　　Four persons were arrested and a pharmaceutical company was shut down. Triazolam, a strong anesthetic, is often used by robbers and rapists to make their victims unconscious. Triazolam dependence is said to cause serious mental problems and aggression.

　　Liu Yuejin, vice director of the Drug-Fighting Bureau of the ministry, told a press conference in Beijing that the bust occurred in June when the Jilin Provincial Food and Drug Administration made a regular inspection of a pharmaceutical plant.

　　He said the plant, the Jilin Pharmacy Co Ltd, is a state-designated triazolam production factory. Inspectors discovered a large number of tablets that were to be diverted to illegal distribution channels.

　　According to the investigation by the local police, from March 1 to May 27, some salespersons of the Jilin pharmacy company illegally sold 192 boxes containing 1.514 million triazolam tablets to medical companies, hospitals and clinics in seven provinces, including Hebei, Anhui, Guangdong, Shannxi and Liaoning.

　　Local police said all the identification certificates and business permissions of the class-one psychological medicines allegedly provided by the medicine companies, hospitals and clinics, were proved counterfeit.

　　Seventy-four boxes containing 567,000 triazolam tablets have been recovered, while 118 boxes of 947,000 triazolam tablets could not be tracked.

　　Liu also said China had made major progress in its "people's war" against illegal drugs. Police seized 2,182 kilograms of "ice" drug (methamphetamines) from April to July, up 9.5 percent over last year.

　　China also seized more than 370,000 "Ecstasy" pills, an increase of 54 percent over the same period in 2004, and closed down 27 underground factories.

　　In April, China launched a nationwide "people's war" against drugs.

　　Local public security bureaus and cultural, industrial and commercial departments strengthened their crackdown on drug taking and trafficking in entertainment places, and arrested many users.

　　From January to June, police in Guangdong Province uncovered 206 entertainment places linked to drug abuse, captured 1,917 drug users and 15 suspected drug traffickers, said Liu.

　　The province also closed 44 entertainment places, ordered 37 others to halt business for rectification, and revoked eight licenses.

　　(Xinhua)