National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 554 - 507: New Project

Chapter 554: Chapter 507: New Project

Afternoon.

Not long after the temporary skill ended, a provincial department officer in a white shirt, accompanied by two subordinates, sought out Jiang Yuan.

The provincial department was also located in Changyang City, it’s just that they didn’t usually handle the cases in Changyang City.

Speaking of which, the treatment of ordinary police officers in the provincial department wasn’t even as good as that in the city or even district bureaus, especially regarding respect and reverence, which always seemed a bit like scratching an itch through a boot.

However, the provincial department carried a level of prestige in its operations, often dealing with major cases that grassroots units might not encounter in ten or eight years.

"Sha Yingren, Deputy Director of our Criminal Investigation Department. This is Forensic Jiang Yuan."

Liu Jinghui had informed Jiang Yuan through WeChat beforehand, and now he was just making polite banter.

Sha Yingren smiled at Jiang Yuan and reached out proactively, saying, "The name Ningtai Jiang Yuan has been continuously poured into my head recently, it’s made me want to draw you into our Criminal Investigation Department."

"Director Sha." Jiang Yuan smiled back.

"The Huang Li Drug Trafficking Group case, I’ve looked at it before, and it is indeed shocking. I didn’t expect there to be a follow-up..." Sha Yingren started off by making conversation.

Within the jurisdiction of the provincial department, investigating criminal cases was only a part of their duties. Other responsibilities included formulating plans for the entire province, procurement of equipment, organizational construction, maintaining stability, counter-terrorism, etc., which could keep several hundred people very busy.

In terms of criminal cases alone, just as the deputy head of a criminal police team is like a senior detective, the Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Department is effectively a senior detective as well.

And as for the practical criminal investigation work in a province, the appearance of a Deputy Director from the Criminal Investigation Department basically meant the case had reached a high level.

For a Director of the Investigation Department, who is one level higher, it is normal not to be directly involved with cases. If they do participate, it’s mainly about overseeing and coordinating the work. After all, this position is essentially already detached from the front line, much like a hospital’s dean – asking them to lead surgery is more about face than expecting good results, because you can’t have it all.

In fact, in most places, deputy directors are probably already detached from front-line work, and among the several deputy directors of Shannan Province’s Criminal Investigation Department, it was only Sha Yingren who really appeared on the scene and was involved in actual cases, mainly in a command role.

After a few words of warming up the atmosphere ended, the personnel from Changyang City Criminal Science Center went upstairs, leaving only Jiang Yuan, Mu Zhiyang, Lu Tongda, and Liu Jinghui, the four of them.

Sha Yingren examined the evidence on the scene and compared it to the surrounding objects, reviewing the content captured by the body cameras and video cameras of Jiang Yuan and the others.

"The evidence chain is very complete, and the clues indeed point to Jianyuan Pharmaceutical." Sha Yingren concluded, settling the emotions of those present.

Sha Yingren knew how to interact with frontline police officers, starting with words that eased the mind, then said, "The question now is whether to investigate Jianyuan Group or not. Jianyuan is Qinghe City’s largest tax-contributing enterprise, and I hear they’re planning to go public soon; certainly, the impact must be considered. However, the evidence in this case is solid, and the clues are clear. A legal investigation is indeed necessary."

"With your word, we can rest assured," said Liu Jinghui, who had taken the initiative to make the call and naturally knew whom to look for.

"Well, pharmaceutical companies producing precursor chemicals for drug manufacturing is nothing new. Those directly producing narcotics are less common, but this is not surprising. We must arrest those who should be arrested," said Sha Yingren, beginning to ease the minds of the other police officers and continued, "An Australian documentary was just made about it before."

He was referring to the story of an Australian father who, after his son died from a drug overdose, went undercover to investigate China’s new psychoactive substance market.

In the video, this father, named Bridge, easily got in touch with suppliers of these precursor chemicals, who told him they could provide 25I-NBOMe, 3-CMC, 4-CMC, and α-PVP, among other chemicals, and guaranteed shipping to Australia...

These precursor chemicals they sold, also known as "designer precursors," are chemical products that can be directly transformed into narcotics through a series of simple chemical reactions. In China, there is little regulation over this, and if it’s sold overseas, even fewer people care about it.

The reality is that before some new psychoactive substances are discovered, no one knows they are drugs.

In today’s world, with such a multitude of chemical substances, there is no standard for which compounds can be drugs; it’s the addicts who discover this through countless lives lost without value.

Just like with the toads in Yellowstone Park—who knew licking toads could get you high? How did the first person discover this, and how did the second person muster the courage to believe the first addict? Ultimately, if not for these "predecessors" paving the way, how could regulatory authorities possibly enact a law banning licking toads?

If toads were a new type of drug abroad, they wouldn’t actually be prohibited in China. In theory, everyone could lick toads without punishment. If they didn’t die from licking, they would not cross any legal boundaries concerning protected species.

However, that being said, it’s difficult to sell brand-new drugs, as the sales front end needs to invest more effort into market development. Drug addicts would also have their doubts—and here’s an interesting fact—drug addicts are afraid of dying too.

So, for drug labs, producing popular drugs is the most profitable. Producing something too new means they have to give discounts to the sales side, which sometimes doesn’t seem worth it.

"Next, my suggestion is to take several steps. One is Jiang Yuan’s side. Continue the investigation work here and try to arrest more members of the Huang Li drug-making gang, and see if there are any other pieces of evidence."

"The second is, let the drug enforcement brigade handle the arrests. I’ve already called in Yin to handle it."

"Third, Liu, you’re in charge of leading the investigation into Jianyuan Group?"

"Fourth, regarding the connection between the two, as well as their transportation and sales networks, I think we could dig deeper. I will take on this part."

Jiang Yuan and the others had no objections.

Jiang Yuan also took the opportunity to glance at his system interface:

Task: Cast a Wide Net

Task Details: Arrest as many members of the Huang Li Drug Trafficking Gang as possible.

Task Progress: 73%

From this, it was clear that task progress was not calculated by the number of people. Seventy-three is a prime number, divisible only by one and seventy-three. Therefore, unless only one person or seventy-three people or a multiple of seventy-three had been arrested, the calculation method was unrelated to the number of people.

"Additionally, our case is quite complicated, so we must pay attention to confidentiality. Except for members of the special case team, any external communication must be notified to me in advance and authorized before proceeding," Sha Yingren said as he looked at the others, asking, "Can this be done?"

"Yes," Jiang Yuan and the others replied obediently.

Discipline forces had little room for negotiation, and moreover, Sha Yingren’s request was actually standard, nothing out of the ordinary.

Seeing that Sha Yingren was preparing to leave, Liu Jinghui said, "The fingerprint found on Jiang Yuan belongs to a parking lot security guard of Jianyuan Group, well, to be precise, a former parking lot security guard. We previously had a case and already cleared out their security guards in one sweep."

Seeing that Sha Yingren didn’t quite understand, Liu Jinghui further explained the concept of a parking lot security guard.

"It means they tolerate the embezzlement of company revenue. Such a company still wants to go public," Sha Yingren scoffed.

"Jianyuan has many problems. Their internal strife over the heir is intense, we were also involved in that case. Ultimately, it was Jiang Yuan who determined the real culprit," Liu Jinghui tried his best to clarify his and Jiang Yuan’s history of contact with Jianyuan Group.

Sha Yingren nodded to show he understood.

Liu Jinghui continued, "Next, I plan to comb through all of the Jianyuan parking lot security guards, including those in prison. Who knows, some of them might already be involved in drug trafficking. If the movement is too big, it might alert the people at Jianyuan."

"You mean to stir the snake in the grass?" Sha Yingren immediately guessed the implied meaning behind Liu Jinghui’s words.

Liu Jinghui immediately responded, having failed to manage the situation upwards, "Yes, that’s the idea. Jianyuan is too big. We want to investigate them and keep it under wraps. I don’t think it’s possible. We still need to see how Jianyuan reacts."

"Okay," Sha Yingren agreed, clearly showing a considerable degree of trust in Liu Jinghui.

Sha Yingren left with his subordinates.

Jiang Yuan continued with his investigation in the building. Being in criminal science, even if there was a killing spree outside, his task wouldn’t change much. He rather felt like he was in a ’haven of his own, indifferent to the transition from winter to summer, and from spring to autumn’.