Crime up as supply of drugs dwindles

A crime wave has hit Bangkok as drug traffickers become more desperate after the surrender of Burmese opium warlord Khun Sa.

Drug prices are rising, more addicts are looking for treatment and new trafficking routes are opening up.

The opium king's surrender in January has been coupled with a crackdown by Thai police and military on the production of heroin and amphetamines.

Thai police seized two kilograms of 'pink heroin' at the weekend from a Pakistani passenger travelling from Afghanistan to Bangkok.

Pink heroin produced in the 'Golden Crescent' is seldom, if ever, seen in Southeast Asia as its major market is Europe. The trafficking route known as the 'Balkan route' passes through Turkey, the Balkan states and Eastern Europe before reaching the West.

Heroin from the Golden Triangle - bordering Thailand, Burma and Laos - is white and of No 4 grade, made primarily for mainlining, or injection.

As the shortage bites, heroin entering the country is increasingly of the lower No 3 grade. And, according to dealers and addicts in some of the city's most notorious drug districts, heroin is now being sold with different additives, which is also lowering the quality.