BEIJING — China plans to crack down on illegal drugs in Beijing and other cities that will host Olympic events, a top police official said today.

Authorities will target drug use at nightclubs and other entertainment venues, as well as smugglers supplying major cities, said Yang Fengrui, director of the Bureau of Narcotics Control under the Public Security Ministry.

While most Olympic events are taking place in Beijing and its suburbs, the nearby cities of Tianjin and Qinghuangdao will host soccer matches, along with the business hub of Shanghai and northeastern industrial center of Shenyang. Yang told a news conference that the crackdown would be accompanied by a publicity campaign aimed at raising "public awareness of the hazards of drug use."

Yang was speaking on the eve of the U.N. International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which is usually marked in China with large-scale executions of convicted drug dealers. No such executions have been reported this year.