AMOUNT OF DRUGS SMUGGLED FROM CHINA SKYROCKETS

The amount of methamphetamine, or speed, smuggled from China into
South Korea this year is 3.2 times larger than last year's total,
officials and prosecutors said yesterday.

There also is rapid growth in cases where drugs produced in China are
shipped to South Korea before reaching destinations in Southeast Asia,
they said.

The Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office said that a total of 149.2 kg
of the drugs were smuggled into Korea by air or sea from last January
to November, a quantity 3.2 times larger than the 46.2 kg in 2000, and
14 times larger than the 10.2 kg in 1999.

The amount of methamphetamine produced in China and confiscated in
South Korea by investigators this year, reached 145 kg, a hefty
increase from 35.5 kg in 2000 and 10.2 kg in 1999. The figures show
that drugs from China make up most of the narcotics smuggled into
Korea, the officials said.

The number of cases in which South Korea was used as a stopover for
drug traffickers before smuggling such drugs as speed, marijuana and
heroin, into Southeast Asian countries is increasing each year, they
said.

While only six instances were recognized by authorities from 1993 to
1997, drug traffickers connected to ten smuggling occurrences were
apprehended in three years' time from 1998 to 2001, the officials said.

At a conference next month, prosecutors plan to discuss such issues as
strengthening investigation collaboration with China's investigators,
fortifying information-gathering tools at the National Information
Service, and intensifying searches for drugs at arrival points.

The prosecutors will request cooperation in cracking down on smuggling
through Korea from investigators in China, Japan and the United
States, the officials said. Cargo searches at airports and ports will
also be expanded, they said.

Last week in Busan, authorities seized 91 kg of speed, the largest
amount of narcotics ever confiscated at a single time.

The stash, worth 300 billion won on the street, was en route to a drug
crime ring in Manila, the Philippines, they said.