Fighting Drugs in the Daliangshan Mountains

Drugs were a lingering headache around the Daliangshan Mountains. As drug trafficking swept across the globe at the turn of the 1990s， the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture had emerged as a key gateway for drugs to seep into Sichuan from Yunnan. The area was hard hit by drug crimes， exerting a heavy toll on local communities.

In the operations against drugs in Liangshan， each one of anti-drug police officers has stayed true to their mission and original aspiration with dedication and determination. One of those outstanding officers is Zhou Maijun， a frontline drug fighter who serves now as head of the narcotics control division of the Public Security Bureau in Liangshan.

Though born in the 1980s， Zhou wears a weathered， pale look with a bony body that defies his age due to years of rough sleep during anti-drug operations. He is barely noticeable in a crowd when not wearing his police uniform. From his appearance alone， you probably wouldn't guess that this dark-skinned guy is a hero of extraordinary bravery in the battle against the drugs trade. Since joining the narcotics control force nine years ago， he has organized or participated in cracking over 150 cases relating to drug crimes， arresting more than 700 suspects and seizing over640 kilograms of drugs. For his stellar performance， Zhou has earned multiple honors， such as "China's most outstanding grassroots police officer"， "Hero and role model in the national public security system"， and "Model Civil Servant."

A Reminder of the Original Mission

Zhou was the son of ordinary workers， and none of his family had served in the police force. Before becoming a police officer， the profession seemed vaguely familiar to him. He recalled that his aspiration to be a police officer originated from a chance encounter in his college days.

Early one rainy morning， Zhou was riding the bus and caught sight of something "fluorescent green" outside the window. In the torrential rain， Zhou saw two police officers in reflective green vests， one holding an umbrella and the other carrying an elderly man on his back. The lettering "police" on their vests glowed. "The police are what people can rely on in a storm，" Zhou thought. The sentiment was like a ray of light that pierced Zhou's heart and planted a seed in his soul.

Zhou joined the police force in 2006 upon his graduation from college. He has since worked at a local police station， a criminal investigation division， and a drug enforcement bureau. On his motivation to join the police， Zhou says： "To serve the people like veteran police officers underpins my decision to join law enforcement."

"You become a man on a mission once putting on the police uniform，" Zhou believes. To fulfill the great and noble duty that comes with that mission， Zhou has been on alert constantly for over 3，000 days and nights during the past nine years， like a sharp sword always poised to stab at the heart of criminal elements. He has driven at the life-risking speed of 160 km/h along winding and rugged mountain roads in pursuit of suspects; in deep mountains and forests， he has painstakingly traced the footprints of criminals inch by inch; in the depths of winter， he has raced to the Tibetan plateau for a midnight raid. He has defied dangers to break suspects' mental resistance and learn who is the boss behind their operations， battling drug dealers with both wits and courage.

Fighter of Extraordinary Valor

Many moments in anti-drug campaigns demonstrate Zhou's extraordinary courage. He clearly remembers every perilous arrest， every day and night in pursuit of drug dealers， every heart-rending farewell to his family， and every second of peace he has cherished so much after returning from the edge of death.

"Survival is never certain when we perform these tasks. However， we are preoccupied with how best to fulfil our mission， putting aside concerns about personal safety. In the face of so much unpredictability， we must stay fully focused throughout the operations to catch the suspects，" Zhou says.

In one operation， Zhou and his team rushed to intercept what appeared to be a drug-trafficking truck. At the sight of the police， the driver rolled up the window and prepared to make a potentially violent escape， which immediately alerted Zhou to the driver's intention. Swiftly Zhou jumped onto the truck， trying to open the door by force， when the cornered suspect slammed on the gas pedal and bumped off the police car . Zhou hung on the door of the truck precariously and was dragged for several hundred meters， before jumping off to a roadside bush when the truck slowed down a little bit to make a turn. Ignoring the bruises and pain， he fired several shots at the truck's tires， bursting them and forcing the vehicle to stop. The suspect eventually surrendered himself to the police.

This is just one of the many heart-stopping stories about Zhou's life-risking fights against drug traffickers.

Going undercover is routine work for the anti-drug police， and sometimes this means staying in a confined space for several days straight， resulting in great mental and psychological strain. It is especially a physical and mental challenge to observe from inside a car during summer. To stay invisible from the outside， officers cannot turn on the air conditioning or roll down the windows for hours on end， leading to a lack of fresh air， sultry heat， and suffocating tension inside the car. Just as a hunter stalks  sneaky prey， so the police officers must act with extreme patience and caution， for any slight negligence may abort the whole operation and even cost their lives.