Police arrest gang members selling poison syringes

HEFEI - Police in East China's Anhui province have arrested 8 gang members who profited from selling modified syringes containing chemicals used to kill dogs.

Police found that the gang had sold 200,000 such syringes, each containing a large dose of suxamethonium, a narcotic commonly used to sedate or euthanize dogs.

Police said the needles have been sold in more than 20 provinces and regions nationwide. Buyers are mainly dog vendors, who collect dogs and sell them to restaurants for dog meat.

The business has driven up dog sales to supply restaurants. Police said the needles were modified with a spring and a tailfin at the rear so they could be shot like a dart.

Dog dealers used the modified needles to inject the narcotics into pet dogs on the street, which helped them abduct the animals so they could be slaughtered elsewhere for their meat. But police said the syringes contained doses of the narcotic large enough to kill the dogs instantly.

When police raided the gang's workshop in Enshi city in Central China's Hubei province in October, they found 4 kg of the chemical powder, 10,000 needles and 100,000 yuan cash.

Police said the chemical can also harm people who eat the poisoned dogs, although they had not been notified of any related human poisoning cases.

Public security departments in the provinces and regions involved are looking for the poison syringes so they can be confiscated.