KUNMING, April 15 (Xinhua)
-- Thirty-nine drug addicts escaped from
a rehabilitation detention center earlier
this month, authorities in southwest
China's Yunnan Province confirmed
Monday.
The drug addicts fled
from the center on the morning
of April 6 when they were taking
part in physical exercise, said a
Zhenxiong County government
statement.
Police have captured 12
of the runaways and returned them
to the center. They are still
searching for the remaining 27, the
statement said.
Those who were
responsible for the escape have been
suspended from their posts while an
investigation takes place, it
added.
Yunnan, which has a
4,060-km-long border with Myanmar, Laos
and Vietnam, suffers from the
notorious international drug source of
the "Golden Triangle."
Border
police in Yunnan captured 2,820 suspects
in 2,458 drug cases, seizing a total
of 4.95 tonnes of narcotics last year,
up 43 percent compared with 3.45 tonnes
in 2011.