U.S. and China arrest 5 in joint drug smuggling investigation ahead of Trump trip

It is also the latest headway officials in both countries have made in their cooperation on cracking down on cross-border drug operations. Last month, the U.S. handed over a Chinese fugitive suspected of drug-related crimes to Beijing in a rare extradition after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency acted on intel provided by China’s narcotics officials.

It is unclear if the two operations were related.

CCTV said in its report on Monday that the coordinated arrests of the five suspects were carried out in early April.

“The successful resolution of this case marks another major achievement in deepening practical cooperation between Chinese and U.S. drug enforcement agencies, demonstrating both countries’ strong commitment to jointly combating drug-related crimes,” it added.

The two countries have sparred over the issue of the flow of drugs into the U.S., particularly fentanyl. Washington has accused Beijing of failing to do enough to stop the sale of precursor chemicals, an allegation China has dismissed.

China has pledged to crack down on the fentanyl networks, and following his meeting with Xi in October in South Korea, Trump agreed to lower his fentanyl-related tariffs.

Trump’s state visit from Wednesday to Friday, which was previously rescheduled due to the Iran war, was officially confirmed by Beijing on Monday.

Xi and Trump will hold in-depth discussions on “major issues concerning China–U.S. relations as well as world peace and development,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular news briefing on Monday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he will travel to Japan and South Korea on Monday ahead of the summit.

He will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday in Tokyo and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Wednesday in Seoul, he said on X.