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Xinjiang, HK at forefront of battle over illicit drugs

Recent seizures of illegal drugs confirm that the Golden Crescent has taken over from the Golden Triangle as the biggest source of opium, heroine and cocaine seized on the mainland, customs authorities say.

Hong Kong remains an important gateway for synthetic drugs, they say.

Four major drug trafficking rings busted since the second half of last year involved either Hong Kong or Xinjiang - the far-western region that has become the country's narcotics hub as the flow of drugs across the border from countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran has risen.

These countries had in the past two years surpassed the Golden Triangle on the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand as the biggest source of opium and other traditional drugs, Wang Zhi , the deputy head of the Customs Department's anti-smuggling bureau, said.

'The most common drug trafficking route today is 'west in, east out'. The drugs come in mainly through Xinjiang, and then leave the country through different routes in the east and south,' Mr Wang said. But, he added: 'Hong Kong is still an important gateway for both inbound and outbound drug trafficking.'

Shenzhen and Hong Kong customs officers busted a big drug ring in December and another in April. The April bust was the biggest operation against ketamine smuggling in recent years, with 34 suspects arrested and 114.3kg of drugs seized.

In January and March, customs officers in Beijing and Xinjiang discovered heroin being smuggled in narrow plastic tubes woven into carpets. The carpets were bound for the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi .

'These cases show how drug trafficking is getting more professional and precise and is operated on a large scale,' Mr Wang said.

He said most traffickers who carried drugs across the Hong Kong border came from places outside the city, such as the Philippines, Malaysia and West Africa. But a deputy chief of Shenzhen customs' anti-smuggling bureau, Song Min , said that in most cases Hong Kong was still involved in the operations in one way or another.

'Hong Kong is a special region; it manufactures drugs,' Mr Song said. 'But it is also a spot where drugs are channelled into the mainland from places like Taiwan, South Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as being a route for drugs out of the mainland.'

In April 2005, mainland authorities launched a 'people's war on narcotics'. Since then, the Customs Department alone has investigated 898 trafficking cases, confiscated more than 2 tonnes of drugs and arrested 1,330 people. It has also investigated 16 cases of trafficking in precursor chemicals.

The country's northeastern, northwestern, southeastern and southwestern borders are the main battlegrounds for anti-drug officers. they accounted for 80 per cent of arrests and seizures of illegal drugs in the past three years.

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