GTA Chinatown Wars Drug Dealing Guide
Drug dealing in GTA Chinatown Wars comes down to one rule: buy each drug from the gang that sells it cheap and sell it to the gang that pays most for it. Coke and heroin make the biggest profits; weed and downers the smallest. Trading opens with the mission Tricks of the Triad, which gives Huang his first two dealer contacts, Liam and Danny.
Where to Buy and Sell Each Drug
The six drugs fall into three price bands. Every gang sells one drug below the usual price and pays above it for another, so the profit comes from carrying a drug across the city between two gangs.
| Drug | Price range | Buy cheap from | Sell high to |
|---|---|---|---|
Heroin | High | Midtown Gangsters | Triads |
Coke | High | Angels of Death, Spanish Lords | Mafia (Messina family), Russian Mafia (Petrovic) |
Acid | Medium | Irish American Killers | Hustlers (African Americans), Midtown Gangsters |
Ecstasy | Medium | Mafia (Messina family), Russian Mafia (Petrovic) | Angels of Death, Irish American Killers, Spanish Lords |
Downers | Low | Hustlers (African Americans), Triads | Yardies (Jamaicans) |
Weed | Low | Yardies (Jamaicans) | No gang pays a premium |
Buy and sell pairs confirmed by four independent guides. Exact prices move all the time, so no fixed figures are given; the PDA's Trade Info shows the current best deals, and a green or red arrow next to each drug tells you whether a trade makes or loses money.
How to Make More Money
Destroy the security cameras. There are 100 of them, and each one you destroy lowers the price you pay for drugs, by up to 40% once all are gone. It also lowers the risk of a police raid.
Watch your email. Dealers send time-limited offers, either selling below the normal price or buying above it. Players report that saving between 18:01 and 23:59 keeps a buying offer open indefinitely.
Store your stock. Every safehouse has a Stash Box with unlimited space, where drugs are never lost; move them to your bag to sell. The bag holds 50 doses, and 100 after the two Excess Delivery missions.
Keep trades small when the police are near. A deal can trigger a raid worth two wanted stars, bigger deals raise the risk, and if you are arrested the drugs in your bag are confiscated. Dealers will not trade while you are wanted.
Free Drugs
Drugs do not always have to be bought. After Carpe 'Dime' you can steal gang drug vans and open them at a quiet safehouse; after Kenny Strikes Back you can raid the Spanish Lords' warehouse; after Under the Gun, green dumpsters can hold drugs. Six missions also pay in drugs: Dock'u'mental (15 Acid) and Half Cut (5 Coke), both exclusive to the PSP version, Missed the Boat? (10 Heroin), Sa-Boat-Age (12 Ecstasy), So Near, Yet Sonar (15 Acid) and Faster Pusher Man! Sell! Sell! (10 Coke).
All Drug Dealers by District
Liberty City has 80 dealers. Talking to one, even without buying, unlocks them: they then show as a blue briefcase on the GPS. Finding 40 dealers earns the Golden Binoculars and all 80 the Titanium Briefcase.
| District | Dealers | Gang |
|---|---|---|
Beachgate | Andy | African Americans |
Beechwood City | Winston | Jamaicans |
Boabo | Clucky | Independent |
Boulevard | El Mezzerino | Independent |
Castle Garden City | Lance, Langley | Independent |
Castle Gardens | Shimmer | Independent |
Charge Island | Cheaves | Independent |
Chase Point | Edmundo | Spanish Lords |
Chinatown | Xun | Triads |
City Hall | Spaz | Independent |
Colony Island | Sean, Tosh | Independent |
East Holland | Jorge, Tinto | Spanish Lords |
East Island City | Zubair | Independent |
Easton | RP | Independent |
Firefly Island | Lars | Independent |
Fishmarket South | Chewy, Stephko, Wu Chi | Independent, Triads |
Fortside | El Burro | Spanish Lords |
Francis International Airport | Rob | Independent |
Happiness Island | Osama | Independent |
Hatton Gardens | Daniel | Independent |
Hove Beach | Borris | Russian Mafia |
Industrial | Chung-Hee, Hyun-Su | Midtown Gangsters |
Lancaster | Bison, Webby | Independent |
Lancet | Macca | Independent |
Little Bay | Jung-Su | Midtown Gangsters |
Little Italy | Vicini | Mob |
Lower Easton | Fu-Kang, Ricci | Mob, Triads |
Meadow Hills | FatLad | Independent |
Meadows Park | Danny, Long-Yang | Independent, Triads |
Middle Park | Ash | Independent |
Middle Park East | Josh, Luke, Pingu | Independent |
Middle Park West | Broko, Wobbler, Wormhead | Independent |
North Holland | Big B., Dayton, Trone | African Americans |
Northern Gardens | Kwan, Serge | Independent, Midtown Gangsters |
Northwood | Darius, Eddie, Lez, Schroeder, Zizero | African Americans, Independent |
Purgatory | MC Krazy | Independent |
Rotterdam Hill | Ivan | Independent |
Schottler | Bone, Jamal | Jamaicans |
South Bohan | Decjuan | Spanish Lords |
South Slopes | Markoolio | Independent |
Star Junction | Ben, Caleb, Jahir, Matze, Mike, Stiggy | Independent |
Steinway | Lee, Liam, McSchnurke | Independent, Irish American Killers |
Suffolk | Samwise | Independent |
The Meat Quarter | Joe | Independent |
The Triangle | Jack | Independent |
Varsity Heights | Hobel | Independent |
Westminster | Goober, Posch | Independent |
Willis | Adam, Tuck, Zephan | Angels of Death, Independent |
Districts shown for 79 dealers; those of Cazza and Clay could not be confirmed.
Drug Dealing Trophies
Seven of the eight safehouse trophies are tied to dealing. Silver Safe asks for $2,000 profit in a single trade and Wooden Spoon for a $500 loss in one; the Platinum Syringe is for trading coke and heroin. Jeweled Key to the City asks you to own all 21 safehouses.
More on GTAside
Every GTA Chinatown Wars cheat code and the Chinatown Wars game page.