Un soldat armé de défense des frontières chinoise monte la garde comme il l'patrouilles le long de la Route Nationale 214 près de la frontière de la Chine et du Myanmar à Mengyang remorquer
An armed Chinese border defense soldier stands guard as he patrols along the 214 National Highway near the border of China and Myanmar in Mengyang town, Jinghong city, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest Chinas Yunnan province, 17 June 2013. People and goods are not the only things traveling on the broad, modern highways linking southwest China and Myanmar. Narcotics can be concealed in all kinds of goods such as garments, wood carvings and even computer screens, and border defense soldiers often need to unload tonnes of sacks of crops to uncover a few hidden kilograms of heroin. Officials say China is now under greater pressure to tackle cross-border drug smuggling, as its efforts to build more cross-border roads near its southwestern borders have resulted in more drugs entering the region. Authorities in Xishuangbanna, which lies along Yunnans southern border, seized 5.2 tonnes of narcotics in 2011, marking an increase of 297.9 percent year on year and accounting for one-third of Yunnans total drug seizures. The huge seizure suggests that the prefecture has emerged as a major channel for drugs to flow into southwest China, according to the Public Security Bureau of Xishuangbanna. As the drug trade continues to run rampant along Yunnans western borders, officials say the discovery of the southern smuggling route means that all of the provinces international border regions are vulnerable to drug smuggling.
