SHANGHAI: Shanghai Customs said yesterday that drug smugglers were increasingly using international mails with the number of cases more than doubling in a year.
A total of 124 kilograms of drugs had been seized since July last year. Among the drugs confiscated were methamphetamine, cannabis, ketamine and cocaine. In 14 of the 21 cases, the drugs were being couriered by post.
On February 17, customs authorities discovered a suspicious express package which was sent from Zhejiang Province to an address in Australia. Officers found chemical-like substance inside during an X-ray check. After the package was opened, 626 packets of white crystals were found hidden in microphones. The crystals were later confirmed as methamphetamine and weighed about 12.2 kilograms.
After investigating the case, officers zeroed in on an international drug trafficking gang which had a base in Zhejiang Province. It passed on its investigations to Zhejiang Customs.
Following the cracking of the case, customs officers from Hangzhou in Zhejiang tracked down four drug smuggling cases in March and April and 11.3 kilograms of methamphetamine — stuffed in postage boxes — were seized.
It was the largest quantity of drugs that was tried to smuggle out of the country through air mail in the city.
The number of drug smuggling cases also rose substantially.
In a recent case, a man who was trying to leave the country from Shanghai Pudong International Airport on June 4 was caught with 4.68 kilograms of methamphetamine in his luggage.
Li Qing, an official with Shanghai Customs, said nearly 60 kilograms of cocaine were seized from a freighter that had arrived from Peru. It was the biggest drugs seizure at a local port.
Drug trafficking gangs were also using elderly people, pregnant women and people suffering from AIDS and other diseases to carry drugs. Previously, drugs were found in toys, earphones, women’s underwear, slippers, capsules and even nappies.
A drug control official said the city had 78,000 registered drug takers and 43 percent of them were under the age of 35.
