Pop singer involved in drug scandal
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2004-04-15 08:51

Chinese pop singer Sha Baoliang had been investigated by police for attending a drug party in East China's Qingdao City, police and Sha's company have confirmed.

A cover of Sha Baoliang's first album, which gained him fame soon. [file photo]

However, Sha was cleared after taking a drug test, said police.

Sha had been in the party with members of the famed light rock band, Zero. Sha revealed that some in the party tested negative for drugs, but did not say if they were members of Zero.

Sha Baoliang and Zero band members were netted by police at about 1 a.m. Saturday for allegedly taking Ecstasy in a bar named Shuijinghua in Qingdao. Police took all 21 of them and detained them for three to four hours, when police found some of the party’s wine contained Ecstasy.

The 21 partygoers were released after each paying a 5,000-yuan fine (US$610), but the incident was widely covered by the media.

At first Zero and Sha's agent denied the reports, but Sha’s company acknowledged the incident after police confirmed the case. In a public letter issued Tuesday, Sha’s company said Sha did not take drugs, and that he was involved in the case accidentally.

The company urged police to publicize details of the incident, after some media reported that Sha was arrested for taking drugs and that Sha had called seven prostitutes in the bar. The company denied the reports, and its spokesperson said they would sue the media which made such “false” reports.

An executive with Sha's company, surnamed Guo, said Sha was invited to the party by organizers of a concert in Qingdao.

"Sha felt abnormal when he saw many people drinking wine and strange girls dancing in the bar. So he sat at a corner, and only ordered a bottle of beer. He even did not drink the beer," said Guo.

Friends of Sha said the pop star, who won the Golden Stag music contest in 2003 in Romania, seldom frequented bars.