Drug Trafficking in China

Drug Trafficking in China
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Drug Trafficking in China
Drug trafficking is not a new phenomenon in China. It has been part of Chinese history even before the Boxer Rebellion and the British Opium War in the mid-1800s (Clarke, 2008). History depicts that China's sheer size and geography have conventionally made it vulnerable to drug trafficking. Today, a combination of factors such as increased urbanization, China’s extended trade and commercial interests with Southern Asia, weakened travel restrictions within the country, and a gradual development of a more consumer-oriented society has contributed to the country being a victim of trafficking (Clarke, 2008). The economic development that brought wealth and prosperity to Chinese nationals also made China one of the narcotic centers (Swanström & Yin, 2006). This development established a market for the global drug trade. Studies show that between 2000 and 2005, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita increased from approximately 3,980 USD to roughly 6,292 USD (Swanström & Yin, 2006). Such an increase in purchasing power has enabled the average citizen to acquire more drugs. Because of these factors, China has become a major narcotic transit point for Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, Russia, and Latin America (Clarke, 2008). The increased drug trafficking has resulted in severe consequences for China. This research discusses drug trafficking in China, which has harmed society. Drug trafficking has influenced criminal activities in China and has created a culture of drug reliance that has affected public health.
Nature, Trends, and Definition
Drug trafficking is a serious criminal offense in China that may attract harsher punishment. In China, Capital punishment is the legal penalty for an individual convicted of drug trafficking. Article 347 of the Chinese Criminal Code states that regardless of the quantity of drugs a person smuggles, produces, or traffics, they shall be prosecuted (Tian, 2016). The most popular drugs in China are heroin and meth. According to Chin & Zhang (2007), the maximum sentence for the passion of more than 50 grams of heroin or meth is death. The nature of punishment given to drug traffickers in China shows how serious this offense is.
Many drug traffickers have been indicted and sentenced to death for committing this crime. For instance, in 1994, the Yunnan police caught Yang Maoxian, a notorious drug lord who had systematically controlled drug trafficking in China, and sentenced him to death (Chin & Zhang, 2007). Years later, the Chinese authorities arrested and executed Lee Guoting, a popular heroin Kingpin (Chin & Zhang, 2007). The capture and execution of Sai Naw Kham, a notorious drug lord from Myanmar, was a big win for anti-narcotics (Zhao, 2022). One of the most recent cases is that of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian drug smuggler who was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison but later changed to the death penalty. These cases are a few drug drug-trafficking cases that show the seriousness of China in curbing this problem.
In the past, China’s law enforcement officials rais...