> I never heard of anything like that growing up.

This happened all the time, you just never heard of it when you were growing up. China and Bangladesh are doing nothing other than murdering a random drug mule. Corruption allows drugs to flow in and out of especially China really easily. The reason why Cartels are so powerful is exactly because of the war on drugs. The industry is highly profitable and because it is illegal it is driven only into the hands of criminals.

The only solution is liberal policies that allow people to seek treatment or at least give them access to safer drugs.