Briefly

GUANGXI

Police arrest 268 in drug crackdown

A drug trafficking network has been busted and 268 suspects arrested, police in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region said on Monday. The regional narcotics control bureau said a special task force, comprising police from Liuzhou, Nanning and Chongzuo, was formed after Liuzhou police suspected two local residents of selling and transporting heroin in December last year. After nearly three months of investigation, over 1,000 police officers in the three cities launched a raid on March 19 and destroyed seven drug dens. Eighty-four of the arrested suspects have been prosecuted, with 184 drug users given administrative punishment, the bureau said.

SICHUAN

Rocket launches new Tianlian relay satellite

China sent a new data relay satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province early on Tuesday morning. The Tianlian II-02 satellite was launched at 12:09 am by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. It was the 401st mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. Developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Tianlian II-02 is a second-generation data relay satellite tasked with relaying data for spacecraft and the country's space station. It will also offer data relay services for low- and mid-orbit satellites and will be used to track and monitor spacecraft launches, the company said.

Xinhua