On Thursday, October 24th, the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments against eight Chinese chemical companies and eight of their employees, accusing them of federal crimes, including attempting to distribute synthetic opioid drugs and precursor chemicals used to produce fentanyl, as well as money laundering.
According to the press release issued by the Department of Justice, these indictments were filed under seal last year in the Central District of Florida federal court. The indictments allege that the defendants openly promoted their ability to evade border officials’ inspections by disguising goods labels, and shipped synthetic opioid drugs or chemicals used in fentanyl production to various locations across the United States.
The defendants deliberately engaged in evasion tactics, such as mislabeling shipments to ensure that illegal chemical substances and controlled items were not detected. Through these evasion methods, these companies have been illicitly selling precursor chemicals to customers in Mexico and the United States for years. One company even claimed to ship “over 20 kilograms” of goods to the U.S., Africa, Canada, and other countries every month.
The indictments state that drug traffickers frequently change strategies to adapt to tightening restrictions on fentanyl production and sales. For instance, when the Chinese authorities banned fentanyl production in 2019, companies based in China began manufacturing and selling fentanyl precursors, the ingredients necessary to produce these drugs.
These Chinese companies distribute fentanyl precursors to countries worldwide, including the U.S. and Mexico. In Mexico, drug cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel convert these chemicals into fentanyl and other synthetic opioid drugs, which are then distributed to the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Five out of the eight indicted companies have ceased operations, including Jiangsu Jiyi Chemical, Tianjin Furuntongda Tech Co. Ltd, Wuhan Jinshang Import & Export Trading Co. Ltd., Hubei Shanglin Trading Co., and Wuhan Mingyue Information Technology.
The remaining three companies are Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Co., Henan Oumeng Trade Co., and Shanghai Senria New Materials Co.
Additionally, the eight Chinese citizens from these companies have also been charged, including Ji Zhaohui from Jiangsu Jiyi Chemical, Wenxing Gao from Tianjin Furuntongda Tech Co. Ltd, Wenying Nie from Wuhan Jinshang Import & Export Trading Co. Ltd, Zhihan Wang from Hubei Shanglin Trading Co., Huanhuan Song from Wuhan Mingyue Information Technology, Xiaojun Huang from Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Co., Yinxia Zhao from Henan Oumeng Trade Co., and Zhenbo Han from Shanghai Senria New Materials Co.
These individuals are charged with attempting to export fentanyl and its analogs, synthetic opioid drugs, and attempting international money laundering through their possession of cryptocurrency accounts, accepting illegal transactions from foreign buyers.
Anne Milgram, the Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, stated in the press release, “Today’s indictments against eight Chinese chemical companies and eight Chinese citizens further demonstrate the unwavering commitment of the DEA in destroying various links of the global fentanyl supply chain.”
“For over a year, the DEA has charged Chinese chemical companies and individuals for the third time, accusing them of supplying chemicals to drug trafficking groups for manufacturing deadly fentanyl. Despite their possible efforts to evade our investigations, the DEA will use all available tools and powers to save American lives.”
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said, “The end of the global fentanyl supply chain often leads to the death of Americans, with its source frequently being chemical companies in China. To sever this critical link in the fentanyl supply chain, the Department of Justice has actively investigated and prosecuted these companies. We will continue to combat every organization and individual that fuels the trade of deadly drugs.”
The prosecutions are led by federal prosecutors David Chee, David Pardo, Lauren Stoia, and Adam McCall, along with federal special assistant prosecutor Ashley Haynes at the Central District of Florida federal court.
These cases are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. The OCDETF adopts a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency cooperation approach to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level crime organizations threatening the U.S.