China cracks down on fentanyl networks in move long sought by Washington
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For years Washington had pressed China for measures such as arresting the sellers of chemicals used to make the deadly drug behind thousands of US overdose deaths each year.
PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING - China has arrested seven people and subjected 12 more to “criminal compulsory measures” in a campaign targeting traffickers in fentanyl precursor chemicals, state media said on March 19, a move long urged by the United States.
For years Washington had pressed China for measures such as arresting the sellers of chemicals used to make the deadly drug behind thousands of US overdose deaths each year, but it only issued industry notices and took down websites trading in them.
After taking office, US President Donald Trump cited China’s inaction when imposing tariffs of 20 per cent, halved since he met counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea in 2025, in exchange for a crackdown on the fentanyl networks.
The official Xinhua news agency said a special campaign in the central province of Hubei resulted in 22 cases of crimes involving precursor chemicals for fentanyl.
The operation, targeting the entire supply chain, from production to storage and export of such chemicals, was launched in December after a directive from the public security ministry, the agency added.
The agency did not specify what the “criminal compulsory measures” were.
Until now China had only issued industry notices and taken down websites that trade the chemicals.
Chinese officials, however, have defended their record on fentanyl, saying they had taken extensive action to regulate certain precursor chemicals and have accused Washington of using the issue as blackmail.
The US Supreme Court in February invalidated a 10 per cent fentanyl-related tariff Mr Trump had imposed on China and others under an emergency statute. The Trump administration has told Beijing it expected to reimpose that levy under a different law, a US official said.
Xinhua said that “in one notable action based on information provided by US drug enforcement authorities, investigators in Hubei successfully cracked a case involving the sale of state-controlled new psychoactive substances and Category II precursor chemicals for drug manufacturing”.
During the operation it said the Hubei anti-narcotics commission had “strengthened investigations into illegal activities involving fentanyl precursor chemicals, and enhanced risk-prevention measures related to the sources of such chemicals”.
News of China’s first widely publicised legal action in years leading to arrests of traffickers follows weekend trade talks with the US to prepare for a March-end summit of the leaders in Beijing, postponed for now by the war in Iran.
Mr Trump has postponed the visit over the Iran war, but said he would take the trip to Asia in “about five or six weeks”. REUTERS
