The English translation of the article is as follows:
**Tramadol Hydrochloride Tablets Seized by Police. Author: Li Jing**
May 20, 2011, Liu Zhou — (China News Service) — On May 20, the police in Liu Zhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, announced that they had cracked a major drug case involving illegal trafficking of state-controlled psychotropic drugs through online sales. This was the first such case in Guangxi. A family-run criminal gang was involved in selling new types of drugs under the guise of "date-rape drugs" and "weight-loss pills."
In January 2011, the Narcotics Control Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Liu Zhou City received a letter from Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The letter was written by a father whose 18-year-old son had become addicted to a drug called "tramadol." According to the letter, the boy had started taking tramadol after hearing classmates talk about how it made them feel "extremely comfortable" and helped reduce stress. After trying a few tablets, the boy became hooked, eventually consuming five or six tablets daily. If he missed a day, he would feel unwell. Over several months, the previously healthy teenager became severely weakened, developed an irritable personality, and experienced frequent nausea and vomiting. He also engaged in bizarre behavior, such as mysteriously crashing his bicycle into flower beds, fainting suddenly, or wielding a wooden stick on the street and attacking people without provocation. After consulting local doctors, the father learned that his son's condition was due to tramadol addiction.
After investigating, the father discovered that his son had purchased tramadol online from a website based in Liu Zhou City, Guangxi. In his letter, the distraught father appealed to the Liu Zhou Public Security Bureau's Narcotics Control Brigade to investigate the website and save children from this menace.
This letter drew significant attention from the police, prompting the Liu Zhou authorities to deploy resources to investigate the matter. Through reconnaissance, the police confirmed that individuals in Liu Zhou were indeed using the internet to sell tramadol. They had posted advertisements on platforms like Taobao, set up trading platforms, and used logistics companies to deliver the drugs to buyers.
Further investigation revealed that the operation was run by a multi-person criminal gang with multiple hideouts in Liu Zhou City. Since all transactions were conducted online, the police initially struggled to identify the suspects' real identities and addresses.
Due to the severity of the case, the Guangxi Regional Public Security Department designated it as a priority case and instructed the Liu Zhou Public Security Bureau's Narcotics Control Brigade to fully investigate and resolve it.
On the afternoon of May 13, 2011, at 4 PM, officers from the Liu Zhou Public Security Bureau's Narcotics Control Brigade split into four teams to arrest members of the drug-trafficking gang in residential areas along Liuyong Road, Tanzhong West Road, and Yaru Road in Liu Zhou City. One team surrounded two rental apartments in Building 36 and Building 40 of the Tanxi neighborhood. When the police, posing as community workers, knocked on the door, the noise inside immediately stopped. Despite repeated knocking, no one answered. The police then cut the power supply to the apartments and waited outside quietly. Eventually, when someone opened the door, the police quickly entered, identified themselves, and successfully arrested five gang members. They seized 14 laptops and desktop computers used for their criminal activities.
Meanwhile, other police teams arrested additional gang members, including Chen Mou, Wu Mou, and Huang Mou, in rental apartments along Liuyong Road and Yaru Road. At one location on Liuyong Road, the police confiscated 32,252 grams (161,260 tablets) of state-controlled psychotropic drugs—tramadol hydrochloride—as well as other controlled substances: 320 grams (3,200 tablets) of triazolam, 1,660 grams (16,600 tablets) of estazolam, 720 grams (7,200 tablets) of alprazolam, 1,500 grams (15,000 tablets) of clonazepam, and 220 grams (2,200 tablets) of diazepam.
Under police interrogation, the gang members confessed to illegally profiting by establishing and maintaining websites to sell controlled substances like tramadol. Currently, suspects Chen Mou, Chen Moumou, Wu Mou, Huang Mou, and others have been criminally detained.
According to the police, this was a family-based criminal organization. Chen Mou, 25, from Liu Zhou City, was a key member. In 2009, Chen noticed that some people were making quick money by selling tramadol online. After researching online transactions, Chen discovered that most tramadol being sold online originated from cities in Guangdong Province. To further understand the market, Chen traveled to several cities in Guangdong to "investigate."
In November 2009, Chen purchased a batch of tramadol locally and set up a trading platform on Taobao. His initial stock of tramadol sold out quickly. As the "business" grew, Chen recruited family and friends to join him, including his sister Chen Moumou, his cousin Wu Mou, his aunt Huang Mou, and friends Lu Mou, Zhang Mou, and Huang Moumou. Chen divided responsibilities among them: Chen and his siblings, along with Wu Mou, handled purchasing and shipping, while Lu Mou, Zhang Mou, and others managed the website and customer service. Their operations spanned multiple provinces and cities across China.
To conceal their activities, Chen and his accomplices advertised on Taobao under the guise of selling "date-rape drugs," weight-loss pills, and perfumes. They gave these drugs names like "date-rape drug," "love potion perfume," and "weight-loss miracle," accompanied by suggestive images. Buyers communicated via QQ chat to arrange transactions and payment methods, with logistics companies handling delivery.
At the time of the raid on May 13, when the police stormed one of the gang's hideouts in Linyijie, Liu Zhou City, the suspects' computers were still operational. An out-of-province woman was chatting on QQ with the gang, intending to purchase tramadol. The police conversed with her online, informing her of the dangers of excessive tramadol use. She responded dismissively, saying, "It can't be that bad," and claimed she wanted to take tramadol "to lose weight."
"Tramadol," formally known as "tramadol hydrochloride," is a central nervous system analgesic primarily used for postoperative pain relief, cancer pain, labor pain, etc. Excessive use can lead to addiction, confusion, coma, generalized epileptic seizures, tachycardia, respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms. Its effects on the body are similar to those of morphine and heroin. Tramadol addiction can cause memory loss, heightened sensitivity, decreased appetite, weight loss, constipation, urinary retention, and reduced sexual function.
On January 1, 2008, the Chinese government classified tramadol hydrochloride as a controlled psychotropic substance. In recent years, some criminals have treated tramadol as a substitute for traditional narcotics, illegally trafficking it. The primary users are teenagers. According to police investigations, over 50% of tramadol users are between 18 and 23 years old. Many young people view taking tramadol as fashionable, driven by vanity and peer pressure. Some girls even consider it a secret formula for weight loss.
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