Wednesday, April 19, 2000, updated at 09:46(GMT+8)
China
500 kg of Drugs Seized by China's Custom Offices in 1999
Chinese Custom Offices cracked over 150 drug cases, confiscating more than 500 kg of drugs in 1999, an official from the National Narcotic Control Commission said Tuesday.
He said that custom officers cracked 13 major cases, confiscating approximately 400 kg of drugs, or some 78 percent of the total.
Besides, custom offices across China seized more than 20 tons of chemical products used for making drugs, 22 tons of poppyseed as well as more than nine million psychedelic tablets. Custom officers also cracked 42 drug-related mail cases, involving some 16 kg of drugs.
China's narcotics situation is getting worse. In 1999, there were 680,000 drug addicts, 14.3 percent more than in 1998. Among China's drug addicts, eighty percent are male. Seventy- eight percent are aged between 17 and 35. More than 490,000 addicts take heroin.
