U.S. returns Chinese drug fugitive in rare extradition, Beijing says

The United States recently repatriated a Chinese national suspected of drug trafficking, a “first” such return in recent years, Beijing’s public security ministry said on Friday.

China is the primary origin of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, a highly potent opioid underpinning a deadly drug epidemic in the United States.

Beijing says it is open to working with Washington on curbing the crisis, although the United States maintains an extra 10% tariff on Chinese goods it says is to limit fentanyl trade.

“This is the first drug-related fugitive repatriated by the United States to China in recent years, marking a new achievement in China-U.S. cooperation on anti-drug law enforcement,” Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on social media.

U.S. immigration authorities followed “clues” shared by China’s narcotics control commission to repatriate a Chinese national surnamed Han, the ministry said.

Han is suspected of “smuggling and trafficking drugs,” the ministry said without elaborating, only saying the handover took place “days ago.”

The ministry did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

The joint action comes ahead of a scheduled May visit to China by President Trump.

Mr. Trump has used tariffs to pressure China to crack down on sellers of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, but he agreed to lower fentanyl-related tariffs after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in October. In return, China has pledged to work with the U.S. to crack down on the drug networks.

In March, state media reported that China arrested seven people in an operation targeting traffickers of fentanyl precursors, according to the Reuters news agency.

In November, Chinese authorities, acting on intelligence from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, seized 430 kilograms of cocaine from an international shipping container, Beijing’s public security ministry said.