UNITED STATES AND CHINA HOLD ANTI-NARCOTICS TALKS

U.S. and China Hold Negotiations After Drug-Linked Money Laundering Operation Uncovered.

By Kaila Hall

 

On June 20, 2024, the United States and China held historic talks on anti-narcotics cooperation.¹ In January 2024, the U.S. and China renewed² efforts to crack down on drug trafficking operations after a yearlong suspension of counternarcotics cooperation between both nations. In April 2024, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen also held bilateral meetings³ with Vice Premier He Lifeng of the People’s Republic of China in Guangzhou, China. They launched a Joint Treasury-PBOC Cooperation and Exchange on Anti-Money Laundering initiative to combat money laundering and shut down financial avenues for drug trafficking, human trafficking, and fraud.

In the most recent counternarcotics talks in June 2024, the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Rahul Gupta met with China’s Minister of Public Security, Wang Xiaohong. These negotiations came just a week after the Department of Justice indicted⁴ Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel for conspiring with money-laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder drug trafficking proceeds. The Justice Department found that over $50 million in drug proceeds were exchanged between the Sinaloa Cartel associates and Chinese underground entities. Chinese and Mexican law enforcement cooperated with the Justice Department and arrested fugitives who fled the United States following their indictment.

Dr. Gupta lauded the recent joint law enforcement action as “a significant step” and a “concrete exampl[e] of the counternarcotics cooperation.” Wang explained that the recent operation and talks between the U.S. and China “are all proof that our counternarcotics cooperation has been quite fruitful – they also show China’s goodwill and friendship.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,⁵ over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses for the first time in 2021. In response to allegations of fueling the opioid epidemic in the U.S., Chinese officials have repeatedly denied such accusations. The Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Public Security’s Narcotics Control Bureau, Yu Haibin, has instead argued that the “roots lie within the United States itself.” In a June 2024 interview with state broadcaster CGTN, Yu Haibin blamed the U.S. for creating the fentanyl epidemic due to “its own misuse of prescription drugs.” He ended by announcing that “China is willing to offer full support in terms of material control, intelligence sharing, law enforcement and combating transnational crimes.”

 

Kaila Hall is an intern at IELR. She is a rising senior at Cornell University.

 

[1] Slodkowski, Antoni. “US, China Hold High-Level Talks on Anti-Narcotics Cooperation.” Reuters, 20 June 2024, www.reuters.com/world/us-china-hold-high-level-talks-anti-narcotics-cooperation-2024-06-20/#:~:text=BEIJING%2C%20June%2020%20(Reuters).

 

[2] Frayer, Janis, and Jennifer Jett. “U.S. And China to Hold High-Level Talks Aimed at Curbing the Fentanyl Crisis.” NBC News, 26 Jan. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-china-fentanyl-talks-opioids-drugs-epidemic-precursor-rcna135399.

 

[3] “READOUT: Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen’s Bilateral Meetings with Vice Premier He Lifeng of the People’s Republic of China in Guangzhou, China.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 24 June 2024, home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2231.

 

[4] “Office of Public Affairs | Federal Indictment Alleges Alliance between Sinaloa Cartel and Money Launderers Linked to Chinese Underground Banking | United States Department of Justice.” Www.justice.gov, 18 June 2024, www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-indictment-alleges-alliance-between-sinaloa-cartel-and-money-launderers-linked#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThis%20DEA%20investigation%20uncovered%20a.

 

[5] CDC. “Provisional Drug Overdose Data.” CDC, 2022, www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm.

‌[6] Frayer, Janis, and Jennifer Jett. “U.S. And China to Hold High-Level Talks Aimed at Curbing the Fentanyl Crisis.” NBC News, 26 Jan. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-china-fentanyl-talks-opioids-drugs-epidemic-precursor-rcna135399.