The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that a federal grand jury in Dayton, Ohio has charged three American citizens, 22 Chinese citizens, and four Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies with conspiring to smuggle drugs internationally and money laundering. The U.S. Treasury Department simultaneously imposed sanctions on one of the Guangzhou-based companies and two of its senior executives.
This marks one of the largest cross-border law enforcement actions taken by the U.S. against Chinese pharmaceutical companies, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), highlighting Washington’s increased efforts to combat the fentanyl supply chain from China.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi emphasized that the widespread distribution of fentanyl has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Americans, and dismantling transnational supply chains is a top priority for authorities, with the U.S. vowing not to tolerate Chinese companies “shipping poison to America.”
Dominick S. Gerace II, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, stated that the implicated Chinese companies knowingly sold products to the United States through false pharmaceutical and chemical company fronts, despite being aware that the products would be used to enhance the potency and yield of fentanyl, ultimately leading to these lethal mixtures flowing directly into American communities.
FBI Director Kash Patel revealed that the seized fentanyl powder was enough to cause the death of 70 million people, along with fentanyl pills capable of causing the death of 270,000 individuals. He also mentioned that the U.S. has uncovered Chinese suppliers and financial flows, which will aid in thoroughly dismantling drug networks.
According to court documents, Eric Michael Payne, a 39-year-old Ohio resident, has been accused of being the primary supplier of fentanyl for smuggling. He is alleged to have purchased multiple batches of potent cutting agents, such as animal sedatives, from various Chinese chemical companies to increase the production and potency of drugs. Some of these agents are up to 200 times stronger than morphine and could potentially be transformed into over 150 kilograms of fentanyl mixtures for street distribution.
Auriyon Tresan Rayford, 24 years old, residing with Payne, and Ciandrea Bryne Davis, a 39-year-old resident of Georgia, have also been charged with assisting in transferring over $70,000 in cryptocurrency to Chinese citizens since 2022, as well as storing prohibited items in residences.
The 22 Chinese citizens indicted are: Lihui Zhao, Shanhong Jiang, Yan Yang, Fengdi Zhang, Dehui Xia, Xing Wu Chen, Qing Lin Wang, Xiaojun Huang, Meixiang Yao, Zhanpeng Huang, Yuqing Feng, Dongjing Sun, Chengqi Nong, Tiduo Wei, Zhisong Nie, Jichao Zhu, Zhengzhe Yin, Changgen Du, Hongfei Wang, Huatao Yao, Xuening Gao, and one unidentified individual named “Anna Sofia”.
Simultaneously with the indictments, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Co., Ltd. and two company representatives, Huang Zhanpeng and Huang Xiaojun.
Although Guangzhou Tengyue and Huang Xiaojun were indicted in Florida in October 2024, the company continued to operate and continued to sell dangerous chemicals to American buyers in early 2025. Huang Zhanpeng was confirmed as the company’s executive director and legal representative.
The Treasury Department stated that the company not only sold fentanyl-like drugs, but also transported high-risk chemicals such as xylazine, nitazenes, and medetomidine to the U.S. Once these substances are mixed with fentanyl, they significantly increase the risk of fatal overdoses and limit the efficacy of the emergency drug naloxone, further complicating rescue efforts.
John K. Hurley, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Treasury Department, criticized Chinese chemical companies as being the main source of fentanyl precursor chemicals and emphasized the U.S. government’s efforts under the Trump administration to use sanctions and criminal prosecutions to effectively curb their proliferation.
Under the sanction provisions, assets held in the U.S. or by Americans belonging to Guangzhou Tengyue and the two named representatives will be entirely frozen, and U.S. citizens and entities are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. The Treasury Department warned that individuals or entities, whether American or foreign, may face severe civil or criminal penalties if they violate the sanctions.
A previous report by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) indicated that in recent years, synthetic drugs and precursors supplied by Chinese chemical companies have become increasingly prevalent in the illegal drug supply chain in the U.S., leading to a significant number of overdose deaths in young adults. As sanctions and criminal actions unfold simultaneously, Washington continues to apply pressure on Chinese pharmaceutical companies and their international networks in an attempt to sever the fentanyl supply chain into the United States.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug that has become a major cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States over the past decade. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that in 2023, over 100,000 people died from drug overdoses, with approximately 69% involving synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl.