Chinese chemical manufacturers and eight Chinese nationals, accusing them of crimes related to the production, distribution, and sales of the deadly drug fentanyl.
The Justice Department said in a release that it had arrested two individuals and unsealed three indictments in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, charging the Chinese companies and their employees with a number of crimes.
The indictments allege that the defendants violated U.S. federal laws by knowingly manufacturing, marketing, selling, and supplying precursor chemicals for fentanyl production in the United States.
“The Justice Department will not rest or relent in investigating and prosecuting every link of the fentanyl supply chain, including the PRC companies and executives who produce and export vast quantities of the precursor chemicals the drug cartels need to peddle their poison,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. “There can be no safe haven.”
Fentanyl and its analogs are fueling the opioid epidemic in the United States, devastating communities. The highly addictive synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.
As part of the investigations, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 440 pounds of fentanyl-related precursors, which is enough to kill roughly 25 million Americans.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said that, in addition to going after Mexican cartels for their role in trafficking fentanyl into the United States, the DOJ’s efforts also include “stopping the Chinese chemical companies that are supplying the cartels with the building blocks they need to manufacture deadly fentanyl.”
The move marks the first time that the United States has charged Chinese companies for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals into the country.
“These companies and their employees knowingly conspired to manufacture deadly fentanyl for distribution in the United States,” Garland said at a Friday press conference.
It comes about two months after the DOJ charged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel with trafficking fentanyl in an operation that was being fueled by Chinese chemical companies.
By Tom Ozimek
