The United States has repatriated a Chinese national suspected of drug trafficking and smuggling, China's Ministry of Public Security said on Friday, marking the first transfer of a fugitive drug offender from the US to China in recent years.

Photo via China Daily

The suspect, identified only by his surname Han, was handed over to Chinese authorities through immigration enforcement channels following intelligence provided by China's anti-narcotics department, the ministry, which oversees the nation's anti-narcotics drive, said in a statement.

The two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty.

The repatriation marks the latest step in bilateral law enforcement cooperation on drug crimes, driven notably by intelligence sharing.

The two countries created the US-PRC Counternarcotics Working Group in January 2024, following a decision to resume bilateral cooperation on counternarcotics.

In February 2025, Chinese anti-drug authorities and the China Coast Guard captured seven suspects and seized nearly 5,000 kilograms of methamphetamine in the South China Sea based on US intelligence.

In December 2025, authorities in Hubei province launched a crackdown on the trafficking of fentanyl precursor chemicals. Acting on intelligence provided by US drug enforcement authorities, investigators successfully cracked a case involving the sale of State-controlled new psychoactive substances and precursor chemicals used for drug manufacturing.

In February, the two sides held the 11th China-US anti-drug intelligence exchange meeting in the United States.