Drug smuggling seems to be on the rise in this city, according
to an announcement by the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate Prosecutor's
Office, whose jurisdiction includes the city's two airports.
Yang Yujun, the director of the office's prosecution department,
made the claim while announcing drug smuggling charges against nine
people yesterday.
Yang said the office had investigated about 15 drug-smuggling
cases since October last year. And Shanghai Customs had recently
uncovered four additional suspects. "In the past, the figure was
only one or two such cases per year," Yang said.
International drug rings have been using Shanghai ports to bring
drugs into the country, Yang said.
Eight of the suspects charged yesterday were foreigners, hailing
from Thailand, Burma, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They said they had
been promised US$300 to US$900 to carry drugs into China. They were
all caught while trying to enter Shanghai from Pudong International
Airport. The other suspect, a Chinese man, was caught while trying
to leave the country. He claimed the drugs he was carrying were for
his own use.
"They hid the drugs in their luggage, shoes or in their own
bodies," Yang said. "The quantities of drugs involved are quite
large."
The suspects attempted to carry in more than 10 kilograms of
high-purity heroin, ranging from 60 to 80 percent purity. Yang said
most of the drugs involved in domestic trafficking cases were only
about 20 percent pure.
In the largest-volume case, a Thai woman was caught carrying
2,564.4 grams of heroin in her luggage. By law, people caught
smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin can receive 15 years in
prison, life imprisonment or death.
Several of the suspects admitted they had previously carried
drugs into China without being stopped.
Yang said the authorities were still investigating the cases in
the hope of tackling the drug rings behind the smuggling operations
and to dig up information for international anti-drug efforts.
Zheng Ning, deputy director of Shanghai Customs, said the spread
of drug smuggling was also related to growing domestic demand,
according to Xinhua News Agency.
(China Daily February 8, 2007)