Grocery store drug bust

By Summer Xia  |   2008-6-30  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A COUPLE who allegedly sold illegal drugs have been detained by police in Nanhui District in the area's largest drug-trafficking case this year.

Police said the couple and the wife's mother were caught with 800 grams of drugs, and more than 700,000 yuan (US$102,015) was confiscated. They did not reveal their identities.

Officers said they received tips from residents living near the couple's grocery store, reporting that large number of strangers visited the store every day while the owners talked on the phone about "special goods."

Investigation by undercover officers found the wife and her mother rented a one-room apartment in Nanhui, but never lived there. Police suspected it was used to store drugs.

On May 17, officers found the husband sent 310,000 yuan into a bank account in a western China city, which they suspected might be payment for a new batch of drugs. Later, they followed the store owner to a restaurant where the man met two people from out of town.

As the pair gave a bag to the store owner, officers swooped, finding drugs and 210,000 yuan in cash.

The store owner declined to say anything during the interrogation while only small amount of marijuana, ice and heroin was found in the grocery store. Police then detained the wife and her mother, who allegedly confessed that another 1.6 kilograms of drugs were concealed in the apartment. Some had been sold for 540,000 yuan, they told police.

Police have collected all the illicit money involved in the case and are still investigating.