US officials who detained recent illegal immigrants
                 say they come dressed in Nike tennis shoes and
                 some had mobile phones and compact disc players

                 LOS ANGELES -- Illegal immigrants being smuggled
                 aboard container ships tend to be better dressed and
                 seem to enjoy better living conditions during their voyage
                 than those brought on traditional cargo ships, according
                 to US officials.

                 Officials who have seen both types of smuggling said the
                 containers bearing illegal immigrants tended to be more
                 sanitary, with makeshift latrines and had better
                 provisions, such as bedding and pillows.

                 Old-style smuggling ships used to pack about 200
                 people together, while each container usually carries
                 fewer than 25.

                 Those immigrants detained recently were also better
                 dressed, wearing like Nike tennis shoes. Some had
                 mobile phones and compact disc players.

                 US officials, however, could not say whether this meant
                 they were more well-to-do or that they had been
                 provided with items like proper clothing to blend in
                 better when they finally go on to the street.

                 Smugglers charge as much as US$60,000 (S$100,000)
                 per person for container space, about twice the fee
                 charged for those who come on smuggling boats,
                 according to US authorities.

                 The exhorbitant fee, however, does not guarantee a
                 pleasant journey in a container. For some, it remains a
                 daunting journey.

                 They may have started their voyage with blankets,
                 pillows and supplies of food and water, but by the time
                 they arrive in the US, conditions had deteriorated to
                 what the South China Morning Post newspaper, quoting
                 US coast guard officials, described as "unbearable".

                 A group of immigrants detained off Long Beach,
                 California, on Sunday left a container smeared with
                 excrement and vomit. Officials said they had been at sea
                 for 20 days.

                 Officials have also been examining container smuggling
                 since early last year.

                 "It seems to be a troubling new trend," said Ms Sharon
                 Gavin, a spokesman for the Immigration and
                 Naturalisation Service (INS). "We're concerned that this
                 may increase," she added.

                 In recent cases, soft-top containers about the size of a
                 tractor-trailer were used to carry Chinese stowaways
                 who paid as much as US$70,000 each, more than twice
                 the amount charged by people operating ships devoted
                 to smuggling.

                 A cargo ship can carry as many as 1,000 of these
                 containers, which can make it difficult to detect
                 stowaways. The smugglers also often lash down heavy
                 canvas covers on the containers.

                 There was no evidence that the ship owners were
                 involved in the smuggling operation but Ms Virginia
                 Kice, another INS spokesman, said federal officials
                 were looking into making shipping companies more
                 responsible for the illegal immigrants by holding them
                 liable for some of the costs of detention.

                 While the federal authorities said they would increase
                 enforcement efforts to combat container smuggling, Ms
                 Kice said the smugglers' change in approach was an
                 indication that other enforcement efforts had been
                 effective.

                       Adapted from The Straits TImes, 6 Jan 2000.