CHINA TOPIX

03/29/2024 10:58:15 am

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UN: China Produces New Synthetic Drugs Faster than can be Controlled

Hong Kong officials showcasing the 95-kg of cocaine confiscated.

(Photo : YouTube Screenshot) Hong Kong officials showcasing the 95-kg of cocaine confiscated.

United Nations is calling China's attention to its production of new kinds of synthetic drugs, which are allegedly proliferating way faster than can be controlled, Al Jazeera reported.

During a press conference on Sunday, Hong Kong police exhibited 95 kilograms of cocaine they recently confiscated in the city. The drugs were estimated to be worth over $13 million.

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"This is the largest seizure of cocaine in a single police case since the year 2013," Ma Ping-Yiu from Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau said.

The 95-kg of cocaine confiscated by Hong Kong authorities.

(Photo : YouTube Screenshot) The 95-kg of cocaine confiscated by Hong Kong authorities.

Over the last three months, cases of cocaine apprehension in Hong Kong skyrocketed to 120 percent compared with that of in 2015.

However, cocaine is not the only drug making rounds the Hong Kong market these days, Karen Joe Laidler from the University of Hong Kong revealed.

"Over the past twenty years there has been a dramatic shift in the types of drugs that people use. The market place for drugs in Hong Kong is much more diverse now," she said.

This is because most of the chemicals needed to create these synthetic drugs come from China. Drug experts warned that Chinese chemists are now reportedly making new synthetic drugs at a faster rate than police can handle, and the narcotics are too new to be banned internationally.

The United Nations also said that Chinese syndicates are smuggling these drugs to high-end markets worldwide.

For instance, a new form of a synthetic painkiller called Fentanyl, which is believed to be 100 times more potent that heroin, is now being sold within Chinese market at a relatively cheap price.

"When you control one derivative of Fentanyl, another derivative comes out, which is not on the control list," Tun Nay Soe, UN Office on Drugs and Crime coordinator, said. "Criminals are always one step ahead of law enforcement people."

According to the European Union, China has also surpassedEurope, becoming the fastest-growing new synthetic drugs wholesaler as well.

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