A sailor from the Republic of Kiribati was arrested on suspicion of trafficking more than 2.7 kilograms of drugs in east China's Zhejiang Province, local police said on Friday.

On Dec. 23 last year, an employee from a shipping service company in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, tipped off the Beilun Frontier Inspection Station that a sailor from a foreign ship had contacted him and wanted to sell him drugs, said one police officer.

The station and the local police then tracked the ship, "CMA CGM AGUILA," which was registered in Cyprus.

Police arrested the suspect and seized 2.2 kg of heroin and 0.5 kg of cocaine.

Police said the ship anchored at Ningbo Port around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, but did not reveal the name of the sailor.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2008)