Local police in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region?announced yesterday that 27 drug trafficking
suspects from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Africa had been captured so
far this year.
Police in Xinjiang said they'd arrested the suspects in
connection with 13 major cases involving multi-national drug
trafficking. Police have seized 53.1 kilograms of heroin, almost
triple the amount for last year, stated a press release provided by
the region's Public Security Department over the weekend.
Police attributed the "spike" in drug-smuggling cases to a
significant increase in production in the "Golden Crescent" area,
which is currently the world's leading source of drugs. The area
straddles the common borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
In 1999 the area produced 4,600 tons of opium or about 75
percent of the world's total output that year, making Afghanistan
the world's top opium producer. This year, by comparison,
Afghanistan is expected to produce 6,100 tons of opium or 92
percent of the total global output.
To prevent drugs from the "Golden Crescent" arriving in China,
local public security departments have reinforced their staff and
toughened inspection procedures along the frontier as well as at
customs bureaus, storage depots and major points along air routes
and roads.
On October 22, customs officers found 20.7 kilograms of heroin
in powder form hidden in 10 boxes marked "date fruits" that two
Pakistan businessmen were carrying. That discovery represented the
largest seizure of illegal drugs in Xinjiang. To date nine suspects
have been arrested in connection with the case including six
Africans and three Pakistanis.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily November 13, 2006)