Drug cases drop for eight years in China

BEIJING, June 25 (Xinhua) -- China has seen an eight-year decline in drug cases and the number of defendants involved, a trend the top court on Tuesday attributed to the severe punishments against such crimes.

In 2023, courts across the country concluded 33,401 drug cases at the first instance, resulting in legally effective judgments against 49,603 individuals, marking drops of 10.41 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year, according to the Supreme People's Court.

Nearly 11,000 of them were sentenced to five years or more in prison in 2023, registering a heavy sentence rate of 22.12 percent, said the court, adding that it marked 14 percentage points higher than the figure among all criminal cases sentenced during the period.

On the same day, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) also reported a declining trend in the numbers of drug cases handled by procuratorates nationwide in recent years.

Chinese procuratorates approved the arrest of over 61,000 individuals involved in drug crimes between January 2023 and May 2024, down 14 percent year on year, and prosecuted another 65,000, down 33 percent.

The data was released by the authorities ahead of this year's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on Wednesday.

The SPP noted that the combined use of the internet and express delivery services has become an important channel for drug crimes.

Working in collaboration with other authorities, including the State Post Bureau and the Ministry of Public Security, the SPP in May 2023 launched a special six-month operation targeting illegal delivery activities.

Data shows that procuratorates nationwide prosecuted more than 2,100 individuals suspected of drug trafficking through express delivery services last year.

The SPP said procuratorial organs will continue intensifying efforts to combat drug crimes, highlighting the need to prevent the abuse of new drugs and addictive substances among the country's youth.