China's anti-drugs police are calling for a national campaign to combat the spread of the drug known as ice, or methamphetamine.
The head of the country's anti-drug squad, Yang Fengrui, said police confiscated sixteen tons of ice last year, a 1,000% increase on the previous year.
Speaking at a conference in south-western Guizhou province, he warned that China was seeing increased trafficking from the nearby Golden Triangle region.
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Ice, or methamphetamine |
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A powerful stimulant derived from natural
ephedrine
Increases heart rate and blood pressure
Main sources are Thailand, Burma and Mexico
1998 saw a six-fold increase in ice use in the
US |
Mr Yang pledged to step up efforts to break trafficking networks, and increase controls on places of recreation where drug dealers operate.
Golden Triangle
Part of the problem is that China is the world's largest producer of natural ephedrine, from which ice is manufactured. But the anti-drugs chief said there had also been an alarming increase in the flow of narcotics from the Golden Triangle region on China's south-west borders.
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More than 5 tons of heroin were seized last
year. |
Two-thirds of the 5.3 tons of heroin seized in China last year came from the Golden Triangle region and police are also reported to be worried at the threat from the Golden Crescent area in Central Asia, a major producer of opium.
China has held exhibitions and poster campaigns to warn of the risks of drug use, and last year as many as 100 people are thought to have been executed for drug trafficking.
But the potential profits seem to outweigh the risks for many dealers and the number of registered users, itself only a fraction of the total estimated figure, rose 14% last year to 680,000.