Customs officials at the Beijing airport yesterday announced they have detained a Nigerian man who was carrying a suitcase filled with more than 87 kg of marijuana earlier this month.

Beijing airport officers question the man suspected of carrying 87 kilos of marijuana.

Police claimed it was this year's biggest drug haul.

The man, whose identity was not disclosed, arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport from Lagos, Nigeria, on March 2, and left his suitcase at the airport, fearing tight security, police said in a statement.

When frisked at the security check, the officials found only a bag, containing some clothes, and $1,600 cash on the Nigerian, police said.

However, the man returned to the airport the next day to claim the suitcase and was nabbed.

A total of 72 bricks of marijuana - wrapped in black plastic bags - weighing 87.25 kg were found in the suitcase, it said.

The police have detained the man, the statement said.

Drug smugglers have started using more "sophisticated ways" to transport illegal and banned substances, but the police will continue to crackdown on them, it said.

Chinese customs handled 387 cases of drug trafficking last year, seizing 774 kg of drugs, China News Agency said.

Drugs smuggled into China have almost "doubled" in the past few years, the General Administration of Customs said.

The number of registered Chinese drug addicts has risen by a third in the past three years, and reached 1.08 million as of October 2008, the Ministry of Public Security said.

The number is continuing to increase and the situation is serious, Deputy Minister Zhang Xinfeng said. According to the ministry, the number of addicts in 2005 was about 785,000.

(China Daily March 18, 2009)