US Charges Chinese Entities With Illegally Importing Fentanyl, Precursor Chemicals
DOJ unsealed eight indictments in two Florida district courts on Oct. 3, charging a host of Chinese companies and their employees with illegally producing and distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine and their precursor chemicals. The indictments were accompanied by a move from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to sanction 28 individuals and entities for the same reasons (see 2310030066).
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The U.S. filed five indictments in the District Court for the Middle District of Florida and three in the District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The former indictments charge five Chinese companies and eight Chinese individuals with illegally importing fentanyl and fentanyl-related chemicals into the U.S. The companies are Hebei Shenghao Import and Export Company, Lihe Pharmaceutical Technology Company, Henan Ruijiu Biotechnology Company, Xiamen Wonderful Biotechnology Company and Anhui Ruihan Technology Company.
In the Southern District of Florida, the U.S. charged Hanhong Medicine Technology Company, the Du Transnational Criminal Organization and Jiangsu Bangdeya New Material Technology Company with "fentanyl trafficking, synthetic opioid trafficking, precursor chemical importation, defrauding the U.S. Postal Service, and making and using counterfeit postage." Four officers and employees of these firms also were charged.
The U.S. said China-based companies manufacture and distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine precursors, opioid additives and synthetic opioids and openly advertise on the internet. These goods are exported across the globe, including to the U.S. and Mexico, where they are then combined and trafficked to individual users throughout the U.S., DOJ said. The two largest distributors in North America are the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel Jalicso Nueva Generacion, both of which are based in Mexico and purportedly receive precursor chemicals from the companies.
The China-based companies skirt U.S. law enforcement by allegedly using "re-shippers" and "false return labels, false invoices, fraudulent postage, and packaging that conceals the true contents of the parcels and the identity of the distributors." The companies also use cryptocurrency to hide their identities and the location of the funds, the U.S. alleged.