The Ministry of Public Security announced Thursday that Chinese police forces discovered and destroyed about 2.55 million poppy plants in 2005, with the help of remote-sensing technology.

Last year, the first year of official use of the satellite-based technology by public security departments, police discovered 756 fields which were suspected of growing opium poppy, said Liu Shuo, deputy director of the ministry's science and technology bureau.

Chinese police have also discovered poppy fields in foreign countries and have evaluated their possible impact on China.

According to the senior police officer, the poppy-growing fields were spotted in mostly remote mountain areas and forests.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2006)