In May, police in Panshi of northeast China's Jilin Province busted two drug trafficking rings that used the Internet to engage in the production and distribution of drugs, arresting 48 suspects and confiscating 10 kg of methamphetamine, two guns, 10 rounds of ammunition and three cars. The amount of money involved was more than 10 million yuan ($1.63 million), according to a police statement.

Liu acknowledged that it's difficult to collect and obtain evidence on the Internet drug trade. "Sometimes, when we uncovered crimes, the chat information or transaction records for drug users had been lost or deliberately destroyed," he said.

According to Liu, police authorities will tighten supervision on the Internet, use hi-tech measures to enhance intelligence-gathering and offer rewards for tip-offs.

However, Liu admitted that China's anti-drug police forces are understaffed. "There are only 20,000 anti-drug officers nationwide, and they cannot handle all of their heavy and complex duties. In addition, the equipment and infrastructure for narcotics control are outdated," he said.

Hong Daode, a law professor at the Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law, said, "The key to eliminating drug-related crimes is to raise people's awareness of law. We must create a social atmosphere against drugs, especially among juveniles."

International cooperation

According to Liu, China still faces a grim situation in the fight against drugs from abroad.

In 2013, Chinese police uncovered 1,491 transnational drug smuggling cases, up 14.5 percent from the previous year, according to the MPS. Of those, 138 cases involved more than 10 kg of drugs.

The cases involved countries in Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe as well as the United States, with the suspects nabbed mainly in Yunnan and Guangdong provinces.

MPS figures show that more than 90 percent of heroin and methamphetamine tablets available on China's black market come from Southeast Asia.

Last year, police in Yunnan seized 5.37 tons of heroin and 8.95 tons of methamphetamine, smuggled in over the province's border with Myanmar.

Cases of drug smuggling have also risen sharply on the border between China and Viet Nam. Authorities in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region uncovered 3,224 cases last year, seizing 415 kg of heroin, up 100 percent from 2011.

In March 2013, police from China and Laos uncovered a major drug smuggling case along the Mekong River. They seized a boat, five suspects and 597.5 kg of methamphetamine, as well as 139,000 yuan ($22,675) worth of the traffickers' illegal gains.

The following May, police in Guangdong Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region cooperated with Tajikistan's anti-drug department to break up a drug trafficking ring. Police captured two armed suspects and seized 3.53 kg of heroin smuggled from the Golden Crescent, which encompasses the mountain valleys of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and confiscated $15,000 of drug funds.

Last year, China exchanged 700 pieces of intelligence involving drug-related crimes with other countries and conducted joint operations to bust major transnational drug smuggling rings.

Song Zengliang, another senior police officer with the MPS' Narcotics Control Bureau, revealed that they also broke a number of crime rings and extradited drug lords to China to stand trial, including Chen Guoming. Chen was suspected of running a drug trafficking ring in Guangdong and was brought back after spending six years on the run in New Zealand and Fiji.

China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have also set up eight liaison offices at border areas to facilitate investigations. They have launched more than 10 joint operations a year to combat drugs in the Mekong River area.

In addition, China has signed agreements with 20 countries and regions to fight drugs and boosted law enforcement cooperation with 30 countries and regions on intelligence sharing and cooperation. It has also arranged for annual meetings with other countries including the United States, Russia, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam to combat the scourge.

Hong with the China University of Political Science and Law said that drug traffickers have become more violent and sophisticated in their activities in recent years. "The key to fighting cross-border drug trafficking is to upgrade technical expertise, such as setting up satellites near border areas to collect evidence," he added.

Hong said that it is also necessary to establish an international data-sharing platform to blacklist people suspected of drug-related crimes so they can be captured when passing through borders.

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