Chinese court sentences men in case solved through China-US counter-narcotics cooperation

BEIJING -- A Chinese court has sentenced two men who had trafficked precursor chemicals abroad, in the latest outcome of strengthened counternarcotics cooperation between China and the United States.

A court in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, sentenced a man surnamed Xia to six years in prison and his son five and a half years for illegal operations last Friday. The two were found to have organized the sale of 123 batches of controlled stimulants amounting to 1.69 million yuan ($249,000).

The case caught the attention of authorities after the US Drug Enforcement Administration reported in 2023 to China's Ministry of Public Security a related case of trafficking sensitive chemicals.

The case highlighted closer law enforcement cooperation between China and the United States.

Since the beginning of this year, law enforcement agencies of China and the United States have engaged in practical cooperation in areas including counternarcotics, combating telecom and online fraud, and fugitive repatriation, achieving tangible results.

In counternarcotics, the two sides have jointly cracked cases involving drug smuggling and trafficking and the transnational trafficking of new psychoactive substances.

In a joint operation targeting telecom and online fraud with the United Arab Emirates, Chinese and US police dismantled nine fraud dens and captured 276 suspects.

The two sides have also cooperated on fugitive repatriation, with the US side handing over two suspects to China, while Chinese police repatriated a US fugitive wanted for serious violent crimes.