Traffickers turning to internet, technology to facilitate deals

Contactless drug trafficking has risen to prominence in China, especially while the country was under strict epidemic prevention and control, and so criminals have become more often connected through the internet using cryptic codes to avoid investigation, according to an annual anti-drug report.

Drug dealers delete drug-related information after reading, and transaction funds are paid online with virtual currency or video game currency, said the China Drug Situation Report 2022, issued by the National Narcotics Control Commission days before the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on June 26.

Drugs are delivered by professional drug transportation organizations, logistics trucks or by mail and intracity express, ensuring that sellers and buyers do not physically meet each other, it said.

Last year, anti-drug officers resolved 2,761 cases involving internet drug trafficking and seized 1.2 metric tons of drugs, an increase of 119 percent year-on-year, it said.

The use of express channels to carry out crimes such as drug trafficking has substantially increased in recent years, said Yuan Ming, head of the second procuratorial office of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, on Sunday.

Criminals generally use the internet for drug transactions, and the personnel, drugs and money are separated during the transaction process, making evidence collection and investigation more difficult, he said.

In October 2021, the SPP issued a procuratorial suggestion to the State Post Bureau to strengthen supervision. Prosecutors paid attention to inspecting whether drug crimes involved the use of express services to deliver drugs, he said.

Last year, procuratorial organs nationwide prosecuted more than 3,000 people for drug delivery crimes, effectively curbing the high incidence of drug delivery crimes, according to the SPP.

In May this year, the SPP and 16 central departments, including the State Post Bureau, launched a six-month special operation on ensuring the safety of the express industry to prevent criminal activities such as drug trafficking through delivery channels.