Seized drugs are put on display. Photo: screenshot from CCTV News report on October 10, 2025

A meeting on the major maritime drug trafficking case involving the vessel Ji Sheng  was recently held in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. Delegates from the narcotics control bureau of China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the Narcotics Suppression Bureau of the Royal Thai Police, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the US Department of Justice attended the meeting, the MPS said in a statement on its website on Friday. 

During the meeting, the three parties briefed each other on progress of the case, exchanged views, and outlined next steps. The three sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation and intensify efforts to dismantle hidden drug trafficking networks, according to the MPS.

In the early hours of February 24, 2025, Chinese narcotics control and coast guard authorities, acting on intelligence from the US DEA, conducted a law enforcement operation about 130 nautical miles southwest of Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea. The operation successfully intercepted the drug-smuggling vessel Ji Sheng, with seven suspects arrested and 4,973.4 kilograms of methamphetamine seized at the scene, the MPS said in the statement.

This case set a record for the largest amount of drugs seized at sea in a single case in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years, and is a major achievement in the trilateral drug enforcement cooperation between China, Thailand and the US, according to the MPS. 

During the operation, the Royal Thai Police and the US DEA conducted in depth joint investigations and proactively shared maritime drug trafficking intelligence with the Chinese side, which responded swiftly, successfully intercepting the vessel transporting the drugs and seizing the narcotics, setting a model for international drug enforcement cooperation, the MPS said.

As the global drug problem worsens and transnational drug crime remains rampant, which are seriously threatening public welfare, a representative for the Chinese side said that China is willing, on the basis of equal cooperation and mutual respect, to further strengthen intelligence exchange and cooperation with other countries' drug enforcement agencies, combat transnational drug crimes in accordance with law, and work jointly to address the global drug challenge, according to the MPS.

Global Times