Article Link
Sep 02, 2007

Beijing, Sep 2 (PTI) China has stepped up vigil in northwest frontier region of Xinjiang against an influx of drug trafficking from the "Golden Crescent," which encompasses the mountain valleys of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, bordering eight Asian countries has become the main passage of drugs in recent years from the Golden Crescent region.

Though the "Golden Triangle" in the northern region of Myanmar is still the main source of drugs and poses the biggest menace to China, there is a growing threat of drug trafficking from the Golden Crescent region of central Asia, especially Afghanistan, deputy director of the anti-narcotics bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, Liu Yuejin said.

Police in Xinjiang have cracked 13 drug trafficking cases involving 53.1 kg of heroin from the Golden Crescent region in 2006, nearly thrice the number of such cases in the previous year.

To combat trafficking from the Golden Crescent region, China has beefed up border and airport checks in Xinjiang, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong.

Drug-related crimes have also increased greatly in the region in recent years, Xinhua news agency reported.

The region witnessed a surge in juvenile delinquency with adolescents making up 23 per cent of the 408 offenders seized in the first half of last year, up from 19.5 per cent in 2005 and 14.2 per cent in 2000.

Experts attributed the rising juvenile delinquency rates to drugs, Internet addiction and a lack of family love, among others. PTI