Facebook was employed by police in Chaoyang District in a drug investigation that began April 17 and resulted in the detention of five foreign international school students for marijuana use and three foreign drug dealers carrying marijuana, ice, and heroin, The Beijing News reported Friday night

The revelation was part of a bevy of new details that emerged from a police report released Friday detailing an investigation that started when four international school students were caught smoking marijuana in the Beijing Riviera home of two of the suspects April 17.

It is unclear which of the suspects are still in custody, three weeks after the first arrest.

The report indicates police were initially tipped off by an unnamed informant who pointed out the suspects’ Facebook activity to police. Using that as a lead, investigators were able to catch the students in the act at home on the evening of April 17, with a camera crew in tow (video here).

The report names the four students detained in the original raid as being two New Zealanders and two Americans. From previous reports it is known that three of the suspects are 18 years old and the fourth, 17.

Acting on a tip from one of the American students, police then arrested an American dealer referred to as Xiao Wen (小文) in the late evening of April 18 at an unspecified location at Baochao Hutong, where they also confiscated four grams of marijuana.

The new account differs slightly from the Beijing TV (BTV) version of events, which reports that the students’ dealer, identified as Xiao, was found near Nanluoguxiang and was apprehended on the same evening as the April 17 raid.

The Beijing News report states that the police then set up a sting with Xiao Wen in which he called his suppliers to meet him on the evening of April 19 near Anzhenqiao. Two foreign dealers arrived in a taxi and were arrested immediately: a Sierra Leone national identified as Hamm (汉姆) who was carrying 9.25 grams of the drug ice and 1.93 grams of heroin; and a Malian identified as Da Shan (大山), carrying 22.46 grams of Ice.

Police later returned to the international school where the four initial suspects were enrolled and tested four additional students, one of whom, an American, tested positive and was detained.

The report states that all five students detained in the investigation, as well as dealer Xiao Wen, tested positive for marijuana use via urinalysis.

Among the international students, the two Americans, in whose home the four students were caught smoking, are subject to up to three years in jail for providing a venue for drug use. The other three are charged with the use of illegal drugs, punishable by 10 to 15 days detention and fines of up to RMB 2,000.

Among the dealers arrested in the case, Xiao Wen and Hamm are being charged with dealing drugs and Da Shan is being held for possession.

The Beijing News report does not indicate whether the students are still in jail.

When contacted, the school where the students are enrolled declined to comment on the case.

Parents connected to the school, speaking on condition of anonymity, provided conflicting accounts of the current status of the students. Some report that all of the students have been released but their passports withheld, while others indicate some are still being held by police. One parent said the students that have been charged will be allowed to take their final exams, but are not permitted back on campus and will be barred from participating in graduation ceremonies.

The arrests come during an overall crackdown on drug use that has netted several high-profile celebrities in Chaoyang District, including Jackie Chan’s son in 2014. Throughout, police have relied on tips from anonymous informants referred to in the media as “the masses of Beijing’s Chaoyang District” (literally beijing chaoyang qunzhong 北京朝阳群众). This is quickly developing into a meme among Chinese netizens that are joking that the BJCYQZ (the abbreviation of the pinyin Romanization 北京朝阳群众) should be considered the world’s fifth largest intelligence agency after the CIA, the KGB, Mossad, and MI6.

*Note: The English names used in this story are transliterated from the names used in the Chinese report.

Additional reporting by Patrick Li and Aisling O’Brien

Image: Flickr

Mobile users can watch the video here.

Four students from one of Beijing’s major international schools were detained by police late on the evening of Friday April 17, for alleged involvement with marijuana at a family home in the gated villa community Beijing Riviera. A source close to the international school has confirmed that one of the students has since been released and is home with his family.

A Beijing Television (BTV) report uploaded on April 21 shows footage of the raid. According to the report, that evening the anti-drug squad in Chaoyang District received a tip-off from an anonymous source that there were people using marijuana at a townhouse residence in the Beijing Riviera villa complex. 

The video shows four plainclothes policemen entering the townhouse followed by cameramen. They discover four teenagers watching TV with the lights out in the living room on the first floor. As the police instruct the teens to turn on the lights, a woman’s voice asks from upstairs “What’s going on?” to which the officers respond, “Police.”

Two of the four teenagers, 18-year-old twin brothers surnamed Huang, are the sons of the home’s owner, identified as Mr. Huang by the BTV report. Both parents were upstairs in the property when the raid began.

The footage shows excerpts of Mr. Huang’s conversation with the police in which an officer police tells Mr. Huang, “All four kids here are using marijuana, and they need to go with me.” Mr. Huang responds, “Two of them are my kids.”

Mr. Huang then asks the police if the boys are aware of what’s going on, and requests that the police give him a minute to talk with his sons and explain the situation to them. The police reply, “They know exactly what’s going on.”

We can’t confirm from the video if Mr. Huang was able to converse with the boys as requested, however, the report later shows the police, the four students, and the parents sitting together in the living room. It seems as though the police did not remove the teens immediately, and that the parents had some opportunity to talk to them in the presence of the officers.

The video shows the twin’s distraught mother sitting on the floor, crying “This has to be a bad dream! Wo yao feng le! (I’m going to go nuts!).”

According to the report, during interrogation the twins admit they started using marijuana a year ago, and one admitted having smoked marijuana in Sanlitun a few weeks before. The report goes on to say the teens admitted to inviting friends over to smoke together when their parents weren’t at home.

According to the report, the twins bought one gram of marijuana earlier that Friday in the afternoon, from a dealer surnamed Xiao. They then invited their two friends to their home to smoke the marijuana. The police entered the home just as they finished, so the footage doesn’t capture the boys smoking.

There may still be concrete evidence against them as the most common way to test for marijuana use is through urinalysis. All four teens were removed from the residence by police.

Based on information provided by the twins, a police squad then went to Nanluoguxiang and located Xiao, who is a second-year university student. The report says that he started using drugs before running out of money and becoming a dealer.

When the police ask Xiao how much he has sold, he says he has sold 4 grams. The footage shows two large marijuana buds in a zip locked bag. He says his price is RMB 200 per gram. Xiao was arrested.

The report says the two friends of the Huang twins have been detained for using illegal drugs, and according to Chinese law, they will be detained for 10 to 15 days and fined up to RMB 2000. As mentioned above, according to a source close to the international school all four boys attended, one of those two friends has since been released.

The twins, who recently turned 18, are possibly facing a much more severe charge: providing a venue for drug use. According to Chinese criminal law, those convicted of providing a venue for drug may be sentenced to up to three years in jail.

Chinese celebrity Jaycee Chan, son of actor Jackie Chan, was convicted under this law in 2014, and was released after 6 months for good behavior.

In the editorializing style that is common in many Chinese news broadcasts, the BTV news anchor had harsh words for both the parents and the teachers of the boys: “With four students from one elite international school, naturally you can blame the teachers, but parents are even more responsible.” He also cautioned that “Spending all the money in the world on your kids doesn’t equal educating them in a correct way and leading them to a ‘wholesome’ life.”

Patrick Li also contributed to this report.

 Video: Courtesy of BTV, iqiyi

Three students from one of Beijing’s major international schools have been detained by police in an ongoing drug investigation over the past week, beijingkids has learned. In total eight students from the school were questioned, and five released.

According to an official school announcement sent to school parents Monday, four students, three seniors and one junior, were detained late Friday night at a private residence for alleged involvement with marijuana.

RELATED: Video surfaces of police raid on international school students’ home

One teenager from the Friday night raid has been released while the remaining three are still in police custody.

Sources connected to the school who spoke on condition of anonymity say plainclothes policemen visited the school on Tuesday and four additional students were questioned offsite, allegedly in connection with the same offense. All four of the students have since been released and are back at school.

The nationalities of the students were not given, but the school admits only foreign passport holders. At least one of the students questioned is an American, sources told beijingkids.

There is no indication of what alerted the police to the teenagers’ activities, but one source claims that a dealer who was selling marijuana to the students tipped police off, while another cited drug references made on the students’ public social media accounts.

While recreational marijuana use is generally tolerated in places like the United States – where some states have even legalized personal use of it – the same is not true of China, which has very strict laws against most drugs.

China is currently in the middle of a crackdown on drug abuse, and the campaign has shown that even the elite are not immune to prosecution. Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee was just released this spring having served a six-month jail term not for drug use but for allowing others to use marijuana in his Beijing apartment.

Foreign high school students in Beijing international schools often have little exposure to local laws. Frequently residing in gated compounds near their schools, many teens go about their lives in an “expat bubble” and with a false sense of security that local rules do not apply to them.

They may assume that police here follow the same conventions of their home country, which is not necessarily the case.

Some may imagine that as foreigners, the worst that can happen to them is expulsion from China, but that is also not the case: plenty of foreigners involved in drug offenses have been convicted of drug offenses in in China, and they are typically only deported after serving their sentence here.

One former Beijing international school student found this out the hard way last year, when an altercation outside a nightclub resulted in him spending a month in jail and over a year in bureaucratic limbo, unable to depart China while his case was under review.

Penalties for drug use in China are generally split into two categories of severity.

The use of illegal drugs and holding small amounts of drugs are handled by the Public Security Bureau. Offenders are subject to 10-15 days detention and fines of up to RMB 2,000.

Suspects for more serious violations – such as providing a venue for drug use, holding large amounts of highly addictive drugs, and smuggling or distributing drugs – are handled according to China’s Criminal Law.

Providing a venue for any sort of drug use is punishable of up to three years in jail, though recent celebrity cases have shown that most convicted of this crime, such as Chan, have been let out after 6 months on good behavior.

Holding large amount of highly addictive drugs can result in three to seven years imprisonment, and even more under special circumstances. Smuggling, transporting, or manufacturing drugs is considered a major crime, with penalties ranging from 15 years imprisonment to the death sentence.

The school in question has taken several steps in the wake of the incident. They have reiterated their policy against drug use to all members of the community as well as offering support and counseling for the affected students and their families.

They also had a representative from the Public Security Bureau visit the students to make sure they are aware of the seriousness with which drug use is treated in China.

The school also recommended the following common-sense advice for parents, which serves as a reminder to all foreigners in Beijing as well:  

• Talk frequently with your children about where they are and what they are doing when out with friends
• Discuss with them the dangers of drugs and alcohol, the seriousness of illegal activities, and the possible consequences
• Encourage them to report any inappropriate activity

We’ll reiterate our stance on drugs here: Don’t do them, and make no assumptions as to the applicability of local laws to you. If you are living (or even visiting) here, make it your business to know and abide by the local laws.

Also, it would be wise to not assume that your home or school can shield you from repercussions of illegal activities, and that your online activity cannot be monitored, even while using a VPN.

 Photo: courtesy of  Global Times, CFP

This time last year, Beijing was recovering from some of the worst floods in its history. This year, the skies have been dry, but instead we have had two serious stabbing incidents, explosions at the airport and a bakery, and a fire at major retail center. Nerves are a little frayed in the capital.

Fear not, or not too much, said Officer Sun from the Jianwai Police Station, who offered tips for addressing public safety incidents in a telephone interview.

Officer Sun suggested avoiding large crowds. "Try not to go to places that are too crowded. If you happen to be in a crowded place, pay attention to the environment, especially people’s facial expressions. Try to go out in groups of at least two or more."

If a violent incident or accident occurs, "Don’t stand around and watch, get to safety first. If there is an incident such a robbery or a violent act, do not try to catch or fight with the perpetrator. Your personal safety must take first priority," Officer Sun said.

"Call 110 when you are in trouble, and there will be English-speaking operators who can understand you and your case will be forwarded to foreign affairs officers, they all speak English," he said. Foreign residents of Beijing should also "be sure to save a couple of your Chinese co-workers’ or friends’ telephone numbers in your phone, you will probably need their help when something goes wrong."

While the recent incidents were serious, Officer Sun said that they are out of the ordinary. "The cases that happened in the past few days are just odd incidents, we hope residents do not panic because of these rare cases."

He advised common sense and maintaining a sense of awareness. "If you drive, make sure to lock the doors when you get in; when you are opening the car door, make sure you are not followed and that there are no suspicious individuals near you."

Lastly, "Watch your wallets and your iPhones," Officer Sun offered as a final bit of advice.

This article first appeared in the beijinger.

Photo courtesy the beijinger