China says it will step up drug enforcement efforts during the OlympicGames in Beijing in August. Meanwhile, Chinese officials areexpressing alarm about the opium traffic from neighboring Afghanistan,the country that has become the world's leading producer of the drug. Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.

Chinese paramilitary policemen detain a man in the area near the US embassy in Beijing, 23 Jun 2008

One of China's topdrug-fighting officials, Yang Fengrui, says he is concerned moreforeigners in China during the Olympics could mean more illegalnarcotics.

"In order to ensure the security of the Olympicgames, and to host a green Olympic games and a drug-free Olympic games,the central government has instructed the law enforcement departmentsto do a lot about drug control during the Olympic games, in order tocurb the inflow of drugs from overseas," said Yang.

Yang wearstwo hats. He is the director general of the Ministry of PublicSecurity's Narcotics Control Bureau. He is also the permanent deputysecretary general of the newly-created China National Narcotics ControlCommission, an agency created by a law that went into effect June 1.

TheChinese official says another issue of concern is the effort to smuggleheroin through China. He says the heroin supply out of southeastAsia's Golden Triangle region -- made up of Burma, Laos and Thailand --has decreased significantly. At the same time, he points to arelatively new area of opium production, the so-called Golden Crescent,an area that straddles Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Chineseauthorities recently foiled one case involving 50 kilograms of heroinand 30 carpets imported from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Officials saysmugglers had injected the heroin into flexible plastic tubes, one totwo millimeters in diameter, and then wrapped the tubes into colorfulfibers that were woven into the carpets.  

Yang says the Chinesegovernment has taken special measures to deal with the threat of drugsfrom Afghanistan, which produces more than 90 percent of the world'ssupply of opium.

"First, at the border areas and relatedhigh-risk areas, we have strengthened efforts to block the drugsources," Yang said. "And, we have also established checkpoints andinspection stations on the road routes, land routes, sea routes and airroutes, and also mail routes, to maximize our ability to inspect andblock drug sources."

Yang acknowledges there has been what hedescribes as a "very little amount" of opium poppy cultivation inChina, in eastern Fujian Province, in western Gansu Province and innortheastern Heilongjiang Province. He says Chinese authorities usesatellite pictures to detect the illegal crop and have been able totake immediate action to eradicate the problem.

Yang also says asmall number of Chinese families in what he describes as "the borderareas of cities," also grow opium poppies, but he says it is onlybecause they enjoy the beautiful flowers.