SHANGHAI prosecutors have handled 45 drug cases involving foreigners since 2015, Shanghai People’s Procuratorate said over the weekend.

Last year there were 19 such cases, while so far this year there have been 12, said Gu Xiaomin, an official of the public prosecution department of the procuratorate.

The foreign suspects come from 23 countries, including Nigeria, Uganda, Pakistan, Vietnam, South Korea, Canada, Spain and Australia.

A 22-year-old international student from Australia who studied at a local university was recently sentenced to five months’ detention for hosting five people to smoke marijuana in his apartment in Changning District between last September and December.

Police had received a complaint from the public.

“In most of those cases, the drugs were sold in retail or discovered when the suspects were going through customs,” said Gu.

A drug dealer involved in smuggling, selling, transporting and producing under 10 grams of heroin or crystal meth or other drugs can be sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to China’s Criminal Law.