Beijing - Drug arrests in China have risen 15.4 per cent for the first half of this year, while seizures of opium doubled, according to new figures, Miriam Donohoe reports.
The figures were released yesterday on the eve of a meeting in Beijing of anti-drug officials from Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, countries from the drug-producing "Golden Triangle" region of South-East Asia. The Chinese authorities are seriously concerned at the upsurge in drug abuse and drug-related crime due in part to loosened social controls and the easy availability of heroin from neighbouring countries.