China's top court to issue guideline on drug cases

China's top court said Tuesday that it would issue a guideline to regulate how to collect and review evidence while handling drug-related cases to efficiently fight the crimes.

"We are drafting the guideline with the Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, as judicial authorities often meet difficulties in collecting and verifying evidence in drug-related cases," said Ma Yan, deputy chief judge of the No 5 Criminal Division with the Supreme People's Court.

"The draft is going well, and we’ll jointly issue it as soon as possible," he added.

Also on Tuesday, the top court released a report on drug abuse and control. It says that trafficking, selling, transporting and producing drugs are the top crimes among drug-related offenses, adding that methamphetamine, heroin and maguo, a methamphetamine derivative, are the top three drugs in drug-related cases that Chinese courts heard last year.