Two Chinese citizens have been charged with drug trafficking in the Eastern District of Texas, according to a statement released by the federal prosecutor’s office on Wednesday. The two suspects were arrested in China.
The two Chinese citizens are 36-year-old Lisa Xing and 38-year-old Zhanwen Song. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas approved an indictment containing six charges, accusing the two individuals of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Earlier, Adell Willis, a 43-year-old man from Texas, and Judy Ly, a 30-year-old woman from Michigan, were also indicted in May for their involvement in the same conspiracy. All four defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances with intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess contraband in prison, conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substances, and conspiracy to launder money. Willis is also charged with possession of synthetic drugs with intent to distribute.
The United States federal prosecutor Jay R. Combs stated in the announcement, “The indictment alleges that a supplier based in China conspired with distributors in the United States to smuggle deadly synthetic drugs into the United States and distribute them nationwide.”
The indictment alleges that since March 2023, the defendants conspired to possess synthetic opioids, synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic stimulants, and other controlled substances in correctional and penal institutions. The indictment states that Willis purchased synthetic drugs from Chinese individuals Xing and Song, and transported them to his residence in the Eastern District of Texas and Ly’s residence in Michigan.
The charges claim that Willis and Ly, upon receiving the synthetic drugs, converted them into liquid form and soaked paper in the drug mixture. Once the paper absorbed the drugs, they would mail it to inmates in various federal and state correctional institutions across the country.
The announcement stated that Chinese law enforcement agencies cooperated in apprehending Xing and Song, along with 19 others, seizing 475 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids and shutting down four illegal production sites within China. The “FBI-MPS counternarcotics working group,” established in January 2026, facilitated this collaboration.
If convicted, the two defendants could face a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.