The Narcotic Operation

Set in the murky 1990s, The Narcotic Operation follows Lu Shaohua, a formerly strapped smuggler who turns to meth production to revive his fortune. Lin Qiangfeng, an anti narcotics cop, is reassigned to Xigang after an undercover operation, arriving with a sharper sense of danger and a harder edge. Across years and shifting borders, the pursuit becomes a stubborn game of wits and risk that draws in criminals, informants, and ordinary people whose lives are touched by the drug trade. The series asks how desperation and ambition drive people, how power corrupts, and what price families pay when profits take center stage in a world where legality blurs into crime.

Directed by Shubo Guo from a script by Yuxin Chen, The Narcotic Operation is an original crime drama that premiered in 2025. It emphasizes grounded storytelling and strong performances from a cast led by Duan Yihong and Qin Hao.

Early responses note the tense cat and mouse dynamic and the show s unflinching look at corruption and the human cost of trafficking. It probes loyalty versus duty, the friction of cross-border policing, and how ordinary people become trapped in a system built on greed.