Black men are rounded up and beaten in Sanlitun drug sting

I live in Sanlitun, and have recently noticed a lack of drug dealers in the area. This article in the South China Morning Post, titled "Beijing police target black men in 'brutal' drug operation" might explain why. (SCMP, as you are surely aware, is behind a paysite -- thus the lack of a link):

Dozens of black tourists and expatriates, including the son of the Grenadian ambassador, were arrested and some badly beaten during an apparently indiscriminate anti-drug operation by Beijing police.

About 30 men, mostly African or Caribbean, were detained as dozens of baton-wielding security guards and uniformed police swept through Beijing's nightlife district, Sanlitun.

Students, tourists and the ambassador's son Joslyn Whiteman Jnr were among those wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and hauled to a nearby police station.

The ambassador mentioned in the article that his son was beaten for no reason. He ended up spending the night in hospital. Other people also witnessed the round-up:

"It was pretty brutal," Beijing-based magazine editor Alex Reid said.

"I saw a man being beaten by six guys in camouflage. He was covered in blood. The police seemed to be targeting anyone who was black."

Thabo Lieket, a 24-year-old student from Lesotho, was among those arrested and later released without charge. He thought the police assumed he was dealing in drugs because he was black, he said.

"They were rounding up all the black people; it was pretty frightening," he said. "I was walking with some friends past one of the bars when I was grabbed by some of the guys in camouflage. They dragged us all to the police station, where we were put in the same cell."