China Reports 27,000 Drug Cases Seized in 2025, Strengthens Cross-Border Enforcement

China's anti-narcotics departments achieved significant results in 2025, dismantling 27,000 drug-related criminal cases and arresting 41,000 suspects while seizing 33.5 tons of illicit drugs, according to a press conference held by China's National Narcotics Control Commission on June 17, 2026. The figures reflect sustained progress in drug enforcement under a comprehensive strategy combining punishment, prevention, management, control, and education.

In major international operations, Chinese authorities collaborated with Thai and Myanmar law enforcement to apprehend major traffickers and dismantle supply chains. A landmark operation in February 2025 involving China's coast guard, police, and Thai and U.S. partners successfully interdicted the "Jisheng" vessel in the South China Sea, seizing 4,973.4 kilograms of methamphetamine and arresting seven suspects. Throughout 2025, authorities apprehended 131 fugitives wanted for drug crimes, with 49 captured between January and May—90 percent from Southeast Asian nations including Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. Notably, the capture of Long Hua, a top-ten public fugitive, disrupted trafficking networks involving 3.8 tons of drugs. Myanmar's military and police forces, acting on Chinese intelligence, dismantled 13 clandestine drug labs in northern Myanmar, the largest such operation in that nation's history, seizing 2.47 tons of methamphetamine and 490 tons of controlled precursor chemicals.

Facing emerging drug threats, China's National Narcotics Control Commission added 16 new psychoactive substances to its controlled list, including tolyl-methamphetamine and difluoroethimidazole, to combat the proliferation of designer drugs often disguised as consumer products or integrated into electronic cigarettes targeting youth. In 2025, narcotics police departments investigated 14,000 cases involving controlled precursor medications, discovering 92,000 instances of abuse of unscheduled addictive substances such as "laughing gas" (nitrous oxide) and butane. Authorities conducted 35 operations specifically targeting nitrous oxide abuse, detaining 1,608 suspects and confiscating 594,500 liters of the substance. The list of controlled non-medicinal narcotics and psychotropic drugs now encompasses 412 substances, augmented by three broader categories covering fentanyl analogues, synthetic cannabinoids, and nicotine variants.

To address the youthening of drug abuse, China launched a nationwide campaign from June to December 2026 titled "You and I Participate, Safeguard the Future: Preventing Adolescent Drug Abuse," emphasizing education and risk awareness among youth. Results showed that newly discovered drug users aged 35 and under declined 41.6 percent compared to 2024, while 440.3 million individuals remained abstinent for over three years post-treatment, a 2.7 percent increase year-over-year. The government intensified coordination across public health, industry, market regulation, and cyber agencies to monitor production and distribution of dangerous substances and eliminate illicit online sales.

Official statements indicated that drug trafficking increasingly employs high-technology methods, including anonymous online platforms, encrypted communications, virtual currency transactions, and contactless delivery systems, complicating interdiction efforts. Despite these challenges, China stressed its commitment to international cooperation, advancing dialogue with the United States and European Union, deepening partnerships with neighboring countries, and leveraging regional mechanisms such as the Greater Mekong Subregion and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to address transnational drug trafficking comprehensively.