Xinjiang targets drug trafficking

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region plans to beef up the border police force to deal with rising drug trafficking from the neighboring "Golden Crescent" region, a top local official has said.

"We have asked (the central government) for the deployment of more security forces along the border. The current number is simply not enough," Nur Bekri, chairman of the regional government, told China Daily on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, the top legislature.

Bekri said the rising incidence of drug trafficking from the "Golden Crescent" region requires more border police. The "Golden Crescent", which encompasses the mountain valleys of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has become the world's primary drug source.