DRUG TRAFFICKERS 'GETTING SMARTER'

Drug traffickers are using more covert means, new types of narcotics
have hit the "market" and the number of addicts is on the rise, police
and court officials said Monday.

All provinces, irrespective of whether they are near the border or
inland face the threat of narcotics, said Liu Yuejin, deputy director
of the Ministry of Public Security's Narcotics Control Bureau.

The situation is still "grave" because drugs are still entering China
from the neighboring regions and the number of illegal drug processing
plants has increased in the country, he said.

Announcing the breakthrough in several major drug trafficking cases in
which seven culprits were sentenced to death yesterday, Supreme
People's Court spokesman Ni Shouming warned that China is facing the
danger of "rampant infiltration" from neighboring drug sources.
Besides, more Chinese people are colluding with overseas drug dealers
to process, transport and sell drugs in the country.

The "Golden Triangle", comprising Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, is the
biggest source of drugs in China. But the total area under poppy
cultivation there has reduced because of the governments' joint
efforts, Liu said. Nevertheless, more new types of drugs such as the
"ice" are being trafficked from there into China today.

Also, more drugs are entering China from another major source, the
"Golden Crescent" that is spread across the mountainous regions of
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, he said. Another alarming development
is the increase in trafficking of drugs from a country, which Liu did
not specify, through the northeastern parts of China.

A new trend among drug abusers, Liu said, is the switch from
traditional drugs such as heroin and opium to new drugs like Ketamine,
dancing outreach and some psychtropic substances like dolantin.

The Ministry of Public Security's website quotes Vice-Minister Zhang
Xinfeng as saying: "With the strengthening of the interception
(machinery) and crackdown, heroin supply in the country has reduced
sharply, forcing many drug addicts to use psychotropic
substances."

Drug traffickers are adopting more secretive means, Liu said. "The
number of cases in which huge amounts of drugs are seized is dropping
as dealers are dividing the contraband into smaller parts and
exploiting the security loopholes to traffick them through road and
water transport or even postal services."

Ni said that in a number of cases busted in southwestern China,
dealers were found to have been using pregnant women to carry drugs.

The Ministry of Public Security also said that it had cracked a
trans-border case in which eight people, including a Filipino, were
detained and drugs worth about 54 million yuan ($7.09 million) seized.

During their joint efforts over past three years, Chinese and Filipino
police have busted a gang that was a major drug processor and
trafficker in the region, Liu said.