SHANGHAI: Authorities have promised to step up efforts to combat the growing drug trade, which has led to an increase in the number of users in the city, an official has said.

Zhu Ying, vice-director of the Shanghai municipal anti-drug commission and vice-director of the Shanghai municipal public security bureau, said at a press conference yesterday the city had witnessed a huge increase in the number of cases involving trafficking of several new drugs such as ice, ketamine and ecstasy, and a growth in the number of addicts.

Last year, Shanghai officials handled 16,140 cases in which they confiscated 147.52 kg of drugs and seized more than 4.32 million yuan ($565,000) in illegal earnings.

The numbers were said to be much higher than those in 2005, but the exact percentages were not released.

In the first three months of this year, there were 15 cases in which the amount of drugs seized was more than 1 kg, up 66.7 percent year on year.

Zhu said that drug smuggling involving local and overseas rings was a growing problem.

Shanghai customs has this year handled 17 cases involving people attempting to smuggle drugs into the country from overseas.

In one case on January 11, two foreigners were arrested for being in possession of 2.8 kg of ice and 1.26 million yuan in cash, which was believed to have been earned from the drug trade.

The case led to the closure of a studio in Zhejiang Province that processes the drug.

Full details are yet to be released as the case is still under investigation.

Of all the drugs confiscated between January and March, "new" ones accounted for 39.59 kg, a 202-percent increase on the same period last year.

At the end of March, Shanghai had 33,086 registered drug addicts, 28,430 of which are known to be active users. Of the 577 people added to the list this year, 510 of them said they use new drugs.

Zhu said that nightclubs in the city's downtown areas are becoming hotbeds for the drugs trade.

In February, 32 people were arrested and a large amount of new drugs were seized from a club.

Such venues will be a focus for this year's anti-drugs efforts, Zhu said.

Zhu said Shanghai was aware of the problem and had been employing various methods to address it.

In 2006, the city conducted 108,900 drug tests on existing addicts and handed out millions of books on the dangers of drug abuse to primary and high school students.

But there is still a long way to go, Zhu said.

This year's efforts will involve greater cooperation with departments in charge of water, road and air transport as well as postal services to help stop smuggling, he said.

(China Daily 06/07/2007 page4)