Call for more training to detect traffickers at bus stations

Prosecutors have called on police to give more training and support to staff working at long-distance bus stations, to tackle drug trafficking via public transport.

In the past five years, coaches between cities have replaced airlines and railways as the main means to transport drugs, according to Beijing No 2 People's Procuratorate.

Many traffickers prefer long-distance coaches in China over airplanes and railways where they must provide proof of identity, said Zhang Ting, a senior prosecutor in the authority.

"Lots of suspects trafficked drugs in creative and covert ways, such as putting drugs between layers of decorative pictures, dipping clothes into a drug solution or hiding them in their wigs," she said. "These hiding places are difficult to find during security checks."

Some bus stations have no security checks for passengers, which is a loophole that can provide a good opportunity for traffickers, she added.

Prosecutors have called on police to give more training and support to staff working at long-distance bus stations, to tackle drug trafficking via public transport.

In the past five years, coaches between cities have replaced airlines and railways as the main means to transport drugs, according to Beijing No 2 People's Procuratorate.

Many traffickers prefer long-distance coaches in China over airplanes and railways where they must provide proof of identity, said Zhang Ting, a senior prosecutor in the authority.

"Lots of suspects trafficked drugs in creative and covert ways, such as putting drugs between layers of decorative pictures, dipping clothes into a drug solution or hiding them in their wigs," she said. "These hiding places are difficult to find during security checks."

Some bus stations have no security checks for passengers, which is a loophole that can provide a good opportunity for traffickers, she added.

Sanlitun a hot spot

Sanlitun, a bustling area in Beijing's Chaoyang district, has become the main area where foreign drug addicts and traffickers are arrested, according to the capital's No 2 People's Procuratorate.

From 2011 to March 2012, the prosecuting authority dealt with seven cases involving seven foreigners suspected of drug addiction or trafficking in the area, making up about 23 percent of all such cases, said a statement from the procuratorate.

Around 86 percent of the suspects were from North and East African countries, five had no jobs and the other two were exchange students in the city, the statement said.

"The bar street in Sanlitun is always where many foreigners in the capital gather, so drug cases involving foreign suspects there are not rare," said Wei Lugang, a prosecutor with the authority.

Areas around the Workers' Stadium in the district have also been the site of frequent drug arrests in the past two years, he said.

Most drug purchases by the foreign suspects were smokable methamphetamine and marijuana, he added

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