VZCZCXRO7767
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0946/01 2350804
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230804Z AUG 07
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6391
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000946 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, INL/AAE 
DEA HQ FOR OE/OEE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM KJUS PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Guangzhou -- A Hub for the Illegal Drug Trade 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In an unusually candid late July meeting, senior 
provincial and municipal anti-drug officers briefed Poloff on the 
rising tide of drug trafficking in Guangdong Province. Centered on 
Guangzhou, growing numbers of foreign drug dealers and traffickers 
-- many from Africa and the Middle East -- are using the city's 
developed transportation and logistics networks to import narcotics 
and distribute them to other parts of China. Traffickers enjoy a 
linguistic advantage and employ various techniques to elude 
investigators. Chinese anti-drug forces continue to look abroad for 
ways to improve intelligence collection and training. END SUMMARY 
 
Guangdong: A Place for Drugs 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Yang Jiang Hua, Director General of the Narcotics Control 
Bureau, Guangdong Public Security Department (PSD), and Cui Ran, 
Department Chief of the Drug Crimes Investigation Division of the 
Guangzhou Public Security Bureau (PSB), told Poloff that Guangdong 
province is home to one-seventh of China's users of illegal drugs. 
Official estimates for the province put the number at 100,000 
people.  Approximately half are local residents, and the rest are 
migrant workers from the province's "floating population." 
 
The Business of Drugs 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Both Yang and Cui asserted that most of the province's drug 
dealers come from Africa and the Middle East and that the number of 
foreigners involved in the drug trade here doubled last year. (NOTE: 
Yang and Cui could not recall any recent arrests of U.S. citizens 
for drug trafficking in Guangdong province.  END NOTE.) These 
traffickers commonly purchase heroin from the Golden Crescent or 
from South-East Asia, then transfer the drugs via Thailand to Hong 
Kong, Macau and Guangzhou. The two officials described the most 
popular methods of transporting narcotics into China as the 
following: 
 
-- "Bodypacking;" where individuals ("mules") swallow drugs packaged 
in balloons or condoms, which are then evacuated from the body after 
arriving in China. An extreme example of this was the 1,600 grams 
(more than three and a half pounds) of drugs swallowed by one 
African man. The officials noted that at least one Nigerian had died 
from an overdose after one of the packets he had swallowed ruptured. 
 In an attempt to lower the profile of their drug mules, traffickers 
in Guangdong are now hiring female travelers from the Philippines 
and Thailand to do the work. 
 
-- Smuggling in the luggage of travelers, particularly individuals 
on "business" or "vacation" travel. 
 
-- Mailing parcels through the international postal system. For 
example, one group of traffickers mailed narcotics from Dubai to 
Guangzhou, where an accomplice hired a local Chinese girl to receive 
the package. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Yang and Cui said that foreign traders of illegal drugs in 
Guangzhou enjoy a linguistic advantage in avoiding detection. Local 
and provincial police are often thwarted by the traffickers' use of 
African tribal languages, such as Ibo, for which the Guangdong PSD 
does not have translators or interpreters.  In addition, the two 
officials noted that because business is conducted primarily with 
fellow Africans or Middle Easterners, it is difficult for ethnic 
Chinese officials to penetrate these groups. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Organizational models used by the traffickers also pose a 
challenge for police.  For example, the smuggling, processing, and 
distribution aspects of the business are each handled by discreet 
cells.  This compartmentalization affords additional protection to 
the traffickers and dealers, since those who are arrested and 
interrogated only have limited knowledge of the overall operation. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Yang predicted that drug traffickers would increasingly 
exploit Guangzhou's well-developed transportation system and 
historical status as a nexus for international and domestic trade to 
transport large quantities of narcotics. 
 
Not Everything Comes from Abroad 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) In addition, Yang and Cui told Poloff that 
domestically-produced drugs are also present in Guangdong Province. 
Guangzhou reportedly produces a significant quantity of the 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000946  002 OF 002 
 
 
methamphetamine "Ice," which traffickers from the Middle East and 
Iran smuggle to other countries and to other parts of China.  The 
officials also said Ephedrine was produced in Guangdong and many 
other places in China. 
 
Close International Cooperation 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Under the direction of the Ministry of Public Security in 
Beijing, the Guangdong Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has worked 
closely with counterparts from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, 
Thailand and the United States.  This cooperation has taken various 
forms, including training, joint law enforcement operations, and 
intelligence sharing.  Yang highlighted the importance of 
intelligence sharing in anti-narcotics work.  He cited the "0303A" 
case, in which police in Guangzhou and Canada -- assisted by the 
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Panamanian authorities -- 
arrested a total of ten suspects and seized 25 kilograms of cocaine 
in January 2007. According to Yang, DEA, which provided accurate 
intelligence and professional guidance during the case, deserved 
most of the credit for the operation's success. 
 
"I would rather work with the United States" 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Both Guangdong and Guangzhou NCBs praised the efficiency 
and professionalism of DEA agents.  Yang pointed out that the 
Guangdong NCB received five pieces of useful information from the 
United States in 2006 that led to successful operations in the 
province. Also, in late 2006, DEA agents traveled to Guangdong and 
participated in a joint operation to crack a "big drug case." 
 
¶10. (SBU) In contrast with the practical work style of U.S. 
officials, Cui complained that it is much harder to work with 
Canadian counterparts. He commented that the Canadian government was 
slow to provide assistance when its citizens were involved in drug 
crimes.  Attributing this reluctance to Canada's official opposition 
to the death penalty, Cui said he regards citizen-protection 
policies as the biggest barrier to international anti-narcotics 
cooperation. 
 
Structure of the Guangdong Narcotics Control Bureau 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Founded in August 2005, the Guangdong NCB falls under the 
Public Security Department and consists of four main sections -- 
Administrative, Intelligence, Investigations, and Drug 
Rehabilitation.  While the Guangdong NCB exercises jurisdiction over 
relatively few cases (perhaps one or two a year), it supplies human 
resources and technical support, information and intelligence 
support, and interagency coordination to its subordinated NCBs at 
the municipal level. It also provides training for anti-narcotics 
police officers from 21 cities in Guangdong Province. 
 
The Future 
---------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) As the logistics industry develops, the Guangdong NCB is 
keeping a closer eye on emerging cross-border drug trafficking 
techniques.  The need for better actionable intelligence has already 
spurred plans for more investment in the agency's anti-narcotics 
information gathering apparatus and staff training.  Director 
General Yang affirmed his commitment to strengthening the 
anti-narcotics campaign in Guangdong and working more closely with 
foreign counterparts under the leadership of China's Ministry of 
Public Security.  He re-emphasized that China takes drug crimes 
seriously, and suggested that increased dialogue would be key to the 
success of future international cooperation. 
 
¶13. (U) The DEA representative in Beijing and RSO Guangzhou have 
reviewed this cable. 
 
 
JACOBSEN