Peng Qiuyan reviews a case and gives details of deployment. ZHUANG XING/FOR CHINA DAILY 

Strike like a hawk

Last winter, in a quiet park near the border of Yunnan province, three anti-drug officers executed a discreet but decisive operation.

Holding cups of milk tea and pretending to chat, they blended into their surroundings to avoid suspicion from nearby drug-trafficking suspects.

Among the undercover officers was Wu Zhen, a Party committee member and a fourth-grade senior police chief with the Mangshi Border Management Brigade under the Dehong Border Administration Detachment. "Two female officers accompanied me in this task, and one was pretending to be my girlfriend," he recalled.

The suspects, confident that no police were nearby, spoke openly on their phones. The officers stayed close by, pretending to watch fishermen and casually chatting among themselves.

When the suspects initiated the deal, the officers sprang into action. "Just like a hawk catching its prey," Wu said.

Police near the perimeter quickly surrounded the area and arrested three drug traffickers, seizing nearly 25 kg of drugs, including 7 kg of heroin.

With nearly two decades on the front line, Wu, 42, has been involved in the arrests of more than 200 suspects in drug-related cases, and the detention of over 1,300 drug users.

He has helped dismantle more than 40 trafficking networks and led seizures of 2.1 tons of narcotics, and 1,000 kg of precursor chemicals.

"Investigations are like hunting for prey," Wu said. "Success demands patience. Not every effort pays off, but each one requires 100 percent commitment.

"Every extra gram of drugs seized at the border makes people in China safer from drug harm," Wu said. This phrase is also a mantra for Yunnan's border anti-drug police.

Crackdown success

Located on China's southwestern border, Yunnan is adjacent to the Golden Triangle where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet. The area was once the world's leading producer of opium.

Its unique geography still makes the region a target for both domestic and foreign drug trafficking gangs, who use it as a marketplace and smuggling route. Illicit drugs — primarily methamphetamine, heroin and opium — can find their way onto the Chinese mainland via Yunnan.

According to a report on China's drug situation in 2024, illegal drug seizures in the Golden Triangle have decreased, but it remains the primary source of outlawed substances.

Last year, China confiscated 12.4 tons of illegal drugs from the Golden Triangle, an 18.4 percent year-on-year decrease, which accounted for 76 percent of all foreign drug seizures.

During the same period, the Chinese mainland addressed 37,000 drug crime cases, arrested 62,000 suspects, seized 26.7 tons of illicit drugs, and dealt with 193,000 drug users — all figures fell compared with the previous year.

The improvement in border drug control corresponds with Yunnan's intensified crackdowns on drug trafficking.

Zhang Chunze, deputy director of the Yunnan Provincial Narcotics Control Committee, said since the fifth round of China's large-scale crackdown on drugs started in 2021, Yunnan's anti-drug departments have strictly cracked down on drug crimes and promoted comprehensive drug control.

The province has resolved over 15,400 drug-related criminal cases, arrested 17,000 suspects, and confiscated 66.59 tons of various drugs.

"This has significantly curtailed the boldness of drug crimes. The number of drug cases, arrests, and users has decreased year after year, and the drug situation continues to improve," Zhang said.

In combating foreign drug sources, Yunnan has enhanced international anti-drug cooperation, conducting 173 border anti-drug dialogues and 245 joint law enforcement actions with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

The province has destroyed 18 foreign drug labs, 13 drug storage facilities and apprehended 280 foreign drug fugitives, effectively reducing illicit drug inflow.

Additionally, Yunnan has integrated advanced technology such as high-precision video cameras, portable X-ray cargo inspection systems, and drones for border patrols, significantly improving detection and interception capabilities.

X-ray technology has allowed police to identify increasingly sophisticated cross-border drug-trafficking methods.

"There was a time when traffickers disguised drugs as ginger. It was a very secretive and professional disguise, with drugs packed and hidden inside the ginger skin," said Ren of the female investigation unit.

"The ginger skin was made exceptionally thin. If the courier station hadn't scanned the package and discovered that the fake ginger lacked a fiber structure, we might never have uncovered it," she said.