Armed Police to oversee Coast Guard

Shift will enhance efforts against drug trafficking at sea, senior officer says

China's Coast Guard will be better trained once it starts working under the Chinese Armed Police Force, and it will then be able to play a leading role in fighting maritime drug trafficking, which is difficult to detect and dangerous to stop, a senior officer of the Coast Guard said on Wednesday.

"We will focus on improving the force's ability to launch precise strikes on smugglers and block their trafficking routes," Zhang Chunru, the force's chief of staff, said during a news conference in Beijing.