The United States and China held their first high-level meeting of the working group jointly addressing the manufacture and smuggling of narcotics, including fentanyl, known as the 'zombie drug,' on the 31st of last month (local time).
According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and others, the two countries reported recent developments in areas such as substance control, case cooperation, technical exchange, and multilateral cooperation during the meeting held in Washington DC.
They also agreed to further strengthen dialogue and communication in drug prevention based on "mutual respect, managing differences, and reciprocal cooperation."
From the U.S. side, Jennifer Daskal, Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the White House, and Sarah Barron, Senior Director for China and Taiwan at the White House National Security Council (NSC), attended, while from the Chinese side, Wei Xiaojun, Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, participated.
During their visit to the U.S., the Chinese delegation also engaged in bilateral exchanges with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the State Department's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The working group was launched in January following the agreement reached at the November summit in San Francisco between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last year.
According to the U.S. Wall Street Journal (WSJ), since then, China has conducted a crackdown campaign on fentanyl precursors in June, shutting down 14 related websites and more than 1,000 online stores.
In the same month, Chinese authorities also arrested a suspected money launderer believed to have worked for a Mexican drug cartel, based on tips from U.S. intelligence agencies.
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