More foreigners involved in drug trafficking in 2016

International drug dealers expanded their operations in China in 2016, with narcotics flowing in from the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent opium-producing areas becoming a serious problem, the country's drug control watchdog said on Monday.

In 2016, authorities uncovered 1,481 drug cases involving foreigners, arrested 1,876 foreign suspects and seized 6.6 tons of various types of illegal drugs, according to a report of the China National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC) at a press conference on Monday.

The report said drug trafficking involving foreigners has been rising in China, with most drugs entering through Southwest China's Yunnan Province and South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle remains the main source of heroin and methamphetamine in China, said the report, adding that about 44,333 hectares of opium poppy were cultivated in northern Myanmar during the 2015-16 growing season, an increase of 3.7 percent from the previous year.

When asked whether the recent conflict in northern Myanmar has had any impact on Beijing and Nay Pyi Taw's cooperation on fighting the drugs trade, an NNCC staff member told the Global Times that China is cooperating with the government of Myanmar, but it does not involve the conflict zone in northern Myanmar.

Opium and heroin from the Golden Crescent areas of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran are also smuggled into China, and authorities said they have solved 22 such cases in 2016 involving 24 kilograms of heroin.

NNCC deputy director Liu Yuejin said domestic and overseas drug syndicates have organized, hired and controlled special groups to engage in drug trafficking, including pregnant and lactating women, acute infectious patients, seriously ill and disabled people without self-care ability, and HIV carriers.

Liu said enhancing international cooperation and information exchanges are crucial to stopping international drug syndicates and dealers.

China had 2.51 million drug users by the end of 2016, an increase of 6.8 percent from the previous year. Also in 2016, China arrested 4,576 Chinese drug traffickers and 782 foreign nationals.