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Beijing police are investigating the case of a drug dealer who advertises himself as a humanitarian selling euthanasia drugs in the capital.
METRO located advertisements for euthanasia drugs on www.263.com, one of Beijing's largest online classifieds websites.
The online promotion has a long list of drugs that include the highly toxic and potentially lethal sodium cyanide.
Personal information about the advertiser on the site revealed the dealer as a Mr Li, living in Haidian district.
"It's possible that Li is running a scam because there is a lot of false information online," Dong Rui, a police officer from the press office in Haidian police bureau, told METRO recently.
"We are investigating the information now. This kind of information should not be propagated, regardless of whether it is true or not," he added.
A contact phone number in the advertisement was registered outside of Beijing.
"I have all kinds of drugs. What do you need?" Li asked over the phone.
"I have medicine that can cause death immediately such as Demerol, as well as those that can paralyze people over two weeks without them becoming aware of the change, such as thallium nitrate," he added.
Throughout the conversation, Li never once told the undercover METRO reporter that the drugs could be used for euthanasia purposes, despite the description on the advertisement.
Li said all his drugs were genuine and came from a very reliable source.
"This is an established business. You can trust me," he added.
Although Li claimed he lived in Baoding, about 150 km south of Beijing in Hebei province, he promised to deliver all drugs in person.
A legal expert said Li's actions are illegal.
"No matter whether the drugs will be used for euthanasia or not, they are still used to kill. We have laws to regulate this type of trade. Li is randomly selling them to the general public and therefore committing a crime," Qin Hua, a partner in the Jiahe law office, said yesterday.
Qin also said there is currently no precise definition of euthanasia in Chinese law.
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