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Drug trafficking on the rise
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-02-13 00:27

China's youth, the unemployed and its "floating population" are most dependent on illegal drugs, it was revealed Thursday.

And according to one of the nation's most senior anti-drug officials, China's drug trafficking situation is becoming worse.

Among the country's 1.05 million registered drug users at the end of 2003, 72.2 per cent were under the age of 35, and the number of unemployed and farmers addicted to narcotics was 573,000 and 294,000 respectively, said Luo Feng, deputy director of the National Narcotic Control Commission.

"The situation is very serious, leading to tremendous pressure and fresh challenges for anti-drug authorities in China," he said yesterday at the commission's annual conference, where its accomplishments for 2003 were reviewed and priorities for the coming year assessed.

"Overseas drugs enter China from various sources and there has been an increase in internal trafficking," said Luo, who is also the deputy minister of public security.

Another protruding problem is being caused by the production of drugs within China's borders, combined with the recent rampant smuggling of chemicals used to make narcotics, he said.

Police cracked down on 940,000 drug-related cases last year, arresting 637,000 suspected dealers and uncovering about 9.5 tons of heroin and 5.8 tons of crystal methamphetamine, known on the street as "ice."

The commission, led by the Ministry of Public Security, is on the front line in the battle against drug production and distribution, co-operating with police, intelligence agencies, and the government's legislative branch and health sectors.

China's five-year working plan to try and smash the drug industry, which runs from this year until 2008, was also discussed yesterday by commission members.

Over 225,000 people were sent to drug rehabilitation programmes last year, according to police statistics.

Chinese law stipulates that people found using drugs can be detained for up to 15 days, and those deemed to be addicted to drugs can be sent to rehabilitation clinics.

More than 55 per cent of China's 50,000 AIDS carriers became infected with the virus through intravenous drug use, according to the latest Ministry of Health information.

Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang, who is also the commission's director, said yesterday that China's war against drugs should focus on rooting out drug resources, to eliminate drug threats and prevent more people from becoming users.

Zhou said the government will intensify its struggle to stop drugs from entering China, especially in the southwestern Yunnan Province, while placing priority on shutting down the production and smuggling of heroin and "ice."

The government will also step up efforts to control chemicals used in the production of illegal drugs, such as ephedrine, said Zhou.

 
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