China seized 4.5 tons of illicit drugs so far this year-state media

25/6/2024 19:41

        Chinese authorities have seized 4.5 tons of illicit drugs at border ports so far this year leading to 381 arrests, state media said on Tuesday, amid new efforts to fight trafficking and high-level counternarcotics talks between Washington and Beijing.
        
        The United States, where fentanyl abuse has been a major cause of death, has pushed China for deeper law enforcement cooperation, including further controls on the chemicals used to make fentanyl and which are often shipped from China, experts say.
        
        Washington and Beijing recently joined forces to investigate a major drug-linked money laundering operation, in a breakthrough amid otherwise tense bilateral ties.
        
        China's top prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that the authorities prosecuted more than 65,000 illicit drug cases from January 2023 to May 2024, a year-on-year drop of about a third, without laying out specific reasons behind the fall.