Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region
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Cannabis is grown mainly in Xinjiang and
Yunnan, primarily for domestic use . The
ephedrine plant grows wild in many parts of
north-east China and the chemical extracted
from the plant is processed for pharmaceutical
purposes . China, together with
India, is the world’s largest producer of the
chemicals extracted from the ephedra plant .
The production of methamphetamines, of
which China is now a major producer, is
based on the precursor chemicals pseudoephedrine
and ephedrine . Methamphetamine
laboratories are located in various provinces
along the eastern and south-eastern coastal
areas; most trafficking groups are involved
with crime groups in Hong Kong, Taiwan and
Japan . China in recent years has become a
major source of methamphetamine for many
Southeast Asian and Pacific rim nations .
Chinese law authorities also note a surge in
the production of MDMA (‘ecstasy’), mostly
for the domestic market in Beijing, Shanghai,
Nanjing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen . China
also produces the chemical potassium permanganate,
known to be sold to Latin America to
refine cocaine . The National Narcotics Control
Commission reports that up 3490 tons of
precursor chemicals have been prevented
from being shipped to foreign markets in
2003 . The growing of illicit opium is as yet
minor, and manufacturing of heroin within
China’s national borders has not yet been
identified (Drug Enforcement Administration,
Intelligence Division, 2004a; International
Narcotics Control Board, 2004; Kulsudjarit,
2004; National Narcotics Control Commission,
2004b; United States Department of
State, Bureau for International Narcotics and
Law Enforcement Affairs, 2004b) .
As of January 2003 the wholesale price of
heroin varied depending on location . On the
Burmese border, 700 grams of heroin retailed
for around US$5,000 while in Guangzhou
and Fuzhou the equivalent cost was
US$18,000 . A typical retail price per gram
for heroin in 2002 was US$50, with a purity
in the range of 22–57 per cent . The price
of crystal methamphetamine per kilogram
in 2003 in Guangzhou was US$3,700,
while a typical retail price per gram in 2002
was US$48 . To produce MDMA (ecstasy)
tablets in China reportedly costs as little
as US$0 .06 per tablet, but in the cities of
Beijing and Shanghai a single tablet in 2003
could retail for as much a US$27–36 (Drug
Enforcement Administration, Intelligence
Division, 2004a; United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime, 2004d) .
Arrest and seizure data
Drug enforcement agencies at all levels have
been launching increasingly concentrated
campaigns against drug use and various
drug-related crimes . In 2003, the National
Narcotics Control Commission reported that
94,000 drug-related crimes were solved and
that there were 63,700 drug-related suspects
arrested: in 2002, there were 42,854 recorded
offences related to drugs . Figures from the
early 1990s show an increasing trend in the
number of drug-related arrests in China . As
with increasing drug arrests there was often
an overall rise over the past decade in drug
seizures . Seizures of heroin have been fluctuating
in size, with 9 .29 tonnes in 2002
dropping to 4 .07 tonnes in 2003 . In 2002,
Chinese authorities were reported to have
seized around 20 per cent of the world’s
heroin supplies .
Opium seizures have remained fairly stable
over the decade, amounting to 1–2 tonnes
per annum . Methamphetamine seizures have
risen substantially since the late 1990s: in
2003, 4 .53 tonnes were seized, but this was
minor compared to the record figures of 20 .9
tonnes in 2000 . Cannabis seizures appear
to be on the decline — from 4 .493 tonnes
in 2000 to 1 .3 tonnes in 2002 . Seizures of
ecstasy pills are rising — 409,000 in 2003
compared to 225,000 in 2002 . In 2003,
72,800 kilograms of precursor chemicals
were seized (Berniker, 2003; Drug Enforcement
Administration, Intelligence Division,
2004a; National Narcotics Control Commission,
2004b; United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime, 2004a; 2004d) .
Between August and December 2004, Chinese
police cracked down on over 1000 drug gangs
(including 66 cross-border drug trafficking
gangs), arrested over 10,000 drug suspects and
seized over 6 tonnes of illegal drugs . These
drug seizures include 2 .03 tonnes of cannabis
(33 times higher than 2003), 73 .74 kilograms
of ecstasy (16 times higher than 2003), 3 .15
tonnes of heroin, 218 .87 kilograms of opium,
436 .24 kilograms of methamphetamines,
11 .95 tonnes of opium poppies and 96 .42
tonnes of chemicals for drug manufacture .
During the campaign to dismantle the drug
gangs and drug seizures, 12 police died . The
number of deaths is not surprising as more
drug gangs increasingly armed themselves
with automatic weapons and grenades to
protect their drug shipments from being seized
by officials and/or other criminal gangs . The
recent seizures led to a 126 per cent rise in the
price of heroin in the south-western borders of
Yunnan, while in south and central China the
price jumped 50 per cent (China Daily, 2004;
Xinzhen, 2004) .
From August 2003 to January 2004, 13
south-eastern provinces and cities in Fujian
and Guangdong provinces saw the launch
of a special operation to crack down on the
manufacturing, trafficking and transnational
smuggling of methamphetamine and MDMA .
During the operation 139 trafficking groups
were exposed, 14 drug manufacturing and
processing factories were destroyed, with
over 450 kilograms of methamphetamine
and 123,000 MDMA tablets seized (National
Narcotics Control Commission, 2004b) .
Crop studies and crop eradication statistics
Cannabis is grown illegally mainly in southwestern
China, in particular Xinjiang and
Yunnan; in some parts of China hemp is
grown for commercial rope manufacturing .
Statistics on eradication of cannabis are not
available . Illicit cultivation of opium occurs
mainly in Yunnan, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia
and remote parts of the north-west . The
cultivation of licit opium poppy is controlled
by government and in 2003 around 14
tonnes were grown for use in the domestic
pharmaceutical industry . Statistics on eradication
of illicit opium are not available (Drug
Enforcement Administration, Intelligence
Division, 2004a; United States Department
of State, Bureau for International Narcotics
and Law Enforcement Affairs, 2004b) .
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Country profiles: China