Cases of foreigners dealing illicit drugs have risen significantly and Beijing has become a consumption market rather than just a stop on the smuggling route, officials from the Beijing High People's Court said on Thursday.
The court heard 36 such drug smuggling cases in 2009, 28.5 percent more than in 2008.
In 2008, the court issued verdicts in 28 drug smuggling trials involving foreigners and seized 54 kg of drugs, 30 percent and 90 percent more respectively than 2007. Heroin and methamphetamine, known as "ice", are the dominant illicit drugs.
Last year, all courts in Beijing handled a total of 1,318 drug cases involving 1,713 suspects and convicted offenders, an increase of 92 percent and 103 percent respectively on the 2006 figures.
During the past three years, the percentages of criminals who got sentences were 92.1 percent, 94.3 percent and 97 percent.
The courts are also meting out tougher penalties.
Almost 20 percent of criminals got severe punishment with prison terms of more than five years; some received death sentences.
A report from the court said Beijing has now become a target for international drug trafficking groups. In the 88 drug cases involving foreigners that were handled by the high court in the past four years, only three were about drugs being trafficked outside China.
In the past, foreign criminals in the Beijing drug cases were mainly from opium production regions such as the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos; and the Golden Crescent of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Then, Beijing was simply a transit point.
However, half of the foreign criminals convicted in the past four years were from non-drug production regions such as Africa and the Philippines.
Almost all the drugs involved in the 88 cases were found at Beijing Capital International Airport. In three cases were drugs found in postal packages or other channels, court officials said on Thursday.
In one case, one expatriate woman was found carrying 1.7 kg of drugs in her bra. When she was sentenced to prison, she was found to be hiding another 1.7 kg of drugs under her wig.
Women are also being used more in drug trafficking, after being seduced, cheated or threatened by drug trafficking gangs, according to the court report.
In the past three years, the percentage of foreign women convicted of drug trafficking charges has risen from 9 percent to about 30 percent.
Officials of the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court, whose jurisdiction covers nine districts and counties in eastern Beijing, also said on Thursday that in the first half of this year, nine cases involving foreigners were handled, out of 25 drug trafficking cases. Ten foreigners were charged in the court.
However, the court said those figures were lower than in recent years. The number of cases last year involving foreigners was 16.
Out of the 10 suspects charged this year, four were from Africa and three from the Middle East.
Most chose to carry drugs in their bodies. The drug sales occurred mainly in areas frequented by expatriates, such as bars.
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