Plunging supplies lessen threat of traditional narcotics

Traditional drugs such as heroin are posing less of a threat to China, due to a sharp drop in poppy cultivation from the Golden Triangle region and stricter border control, a senior police officer said yesterday.

"The amount of drugs entering China from the Golden Triangle region has fallen in recent years," Yang Fengrui, director of the anti-drug bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, told a news briefing organized by the State Council Information Office.

Yang said a major reason for the decline is the drop in opium cultivation in the Golden Triangle, the infamous drug-producing region that overlaps the mountains of Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.