Anti-narcotics police face major risks

Chinese anti-narcotics police officers face a much higher risk of work-related injury or death than most other categories of officers, according to official statistics.

From 2010 to November 2013, at least 1,148 of the total 20,000 Chinese anti-drug officers either lost their lives or were injured, according to a joint research conducted by the narcotics control bureau at the Ministry of Public Security and the China Narcotics Control Foundation.

Compared with the average hazard of all police forces, officers fighting illegal narcotics in China are almost five times more likely to die and 10 times more likely to sustain injuries while on duty, making it one of the most dangerous jobs in law enforcement, according to Liu Yuejin, director of the narcotics control bureau at the Ministry of Public Security.