Commentary: The Nanjing Entrapment Case Exposes the Poison of Quota-Driven Policing

In a shocking subversion of justice, a deputy police station chief in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, was recently sentenced to five years in prison for a crime that defies basic morality: drugging minors to boost his own arrest statistics.

According to court documents confirmed by multiple media outlets, the officer, identified only by his surname Ma, orchestrated a scheme to meet his enforcement quotas. In January 2024, Ma handed e-cigarettes laced with etomidate — a strictly regulated anesthetic — to a civilian accomplice surnamed Xu. Xu then gathered six minors and encouraged them to smoke the devices. Unaware they were inhaling a controlled substance, the minors were promptly caught by Ma, who swooped in to record a successful drug bust.