Yunnan leads the nation in solved drug cases, user population hits 20-year low

Yunnan province concluded its fifth five-year anti-drug campaign in 2025 by leading the nation in the number of major drug cases solved while reducing its registered drug user population to the lowest level in two decades, provincial officials announced on Thursday.

Between 2021 and 2025, police solved more than 16,000 drug-related criminal cases, arrested over 19,000 suspects, seized 74.88 metric tons of drugs, and intercepted 20,800 tons of precursor chemicals, according to Zhang Chunze, deputy director of the Yunnan Provincial Narcotics Control Commission.

In 2025 alone, authorities handled 2,222 drug-related cases, arrested 2,844 suspects, and confiscated 10.6 tons of drugs.

Border cooperation remained a key part of Yunnan's anti-drug strategy. Last year, the province strengthened joint law enforcement with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand by holding 31 border meetings and carrying out 98 joint operations. The efforts led to the dismantling of two international drug-processing facilities and the capture of 86 fugitive drug trafficking suspects.

Yunnan also expanded alternative crop cultivation programs in neighboring countries, implementing more than 400 projects aimed at reducing illicit poppy production at its source, according to Zhang.

Domestically, the province ranked first nationwide for solving 298 drug cases involving more than one kilogram of narcotics, including three cases involving more than one ton. It also remained among the country's leaders in seizures of methamphetamine tablets, crystal methamphetamine, and heroin.

Public education and rehabilitation efforts continue to show results. Zhang said public awareness of drug prevention has exceeded 98 percent, while the number of registered drug users fell 30 percent year-on-year in 2025 to the lowest level in 20 years. The proportion of former drug users remaining drug-free for more than three years also reached a two-decade high.