Data released by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court shows that the Guangdong provincial capital is handling a growing number of cases involving local women who help their foreign boyfriends smuggle drugs into the Chinese mainland.

According to a statement from the court on Monday, courts across the South China metropolis handled 258 drug-smuggling cases involving 275 foreign and domestic people from 2008 to 2011. The drugs involved grew from 88 kilograms in 2008 to more than 276 kg in 2011.

Of the drug smugglers, women represented the large majority, the court statement said.