The German press reported on Monday that the marketing specialist and inventor of the internationally famous ‘Das Auto’ slogan for Volkswagen cars, Jochen Sengpiehl, tested positive in a cannabis consumption detection test carried out by the Chinese police, after a vacation in Thailand.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that Sengpiehl tested positive for drug use, and that he was detained for 10 days before being deported.
Chinese authorities randomly test passengers for drug use upon arrival in China. Notices issued by Chinese embassies in countries that have decriminalized marijuana – including Thailand, Canada and the Netherlands – remind that anyone who tests positive upon arrival is punished “in the same way as if they used drugs in China”.
Thailand, a favorite destination among the Chinese, is particularly targeted by authorities, since marijuana was decriminalized in the country in 2022.
An Italian tourist from Bangkok, who visited Shanghai last summer for a week-long stay, told Lusa that he ended up being detained for two days and punished with a fine of 500 yuan (65 euros) after testing positive at the airport.
Bars and other nightlife venues in Beijing and Shanghai are also frequently targeted for raids, with police testing all customers. Even if consumption took place outside the country, a positive test is punishable by administrative detention, which can last up to 15 days, and, if a foreigner, deportation.
Tests typically consist of collecting a urine or hair sample. Traces of drugs can remain in the hair for months. If someone is caught with small amounts of marijuana in their luggage, they can be punished with up to three years in prison. Large quantities are punishable by death.
In one of the most publicized cases in recent years, police in the city of Shenzhen, a technological and industrial center in southern China, arrested 50 foreigners on suspicion of drug use. The group was part of a total of 491 people who underwent urine tests after being taken away by police when they gathered at an aqueduct in northern Shenzhen.
One of the detainees was of Portuguese nationality. With around 1,400 million inhabitants, China borders the “golden triangle” (Laos-Burma-Thailand), where it is estimated that there is a total poppy cultivation area of 46,700 hectares.
China also borders Central Asia, a growing source of the country’s drugs, China’s National Narcotics Control Commission said.
*With Lusa
