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Chinese firms indicted in alleged scheme to traffic fentanyl chemicals Chinese firms indicted in alleged scheme to traffic fentanyl chemicals
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Bay Area//Crime
U.S. indicts Chinese firms accused of trafficking chemicals used to make deadly opioids
By Nora Mishanec, Breaking & Enterprise ReporterOct 27, 2024
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that multiple companies and individuals in China had been indicted for allegedly trafficking in chemicals used to make fentanyl. Carolyn Kaster/Getty Images
Federal prosecutors last week announced charges against eight Chinese companies accused of trafficking chemicals used to make fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid fueling a nationwide drug crisis.
In indictments unsealed Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice said the companies and eight of their employees deliberately misled border control agents and mislabeled shipments of chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl. Prosecutors also alleged the chemicals were transported to drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, that manufactured the opioids for distribution in the U.S.
Federal prosecutors also indicted eight Chinese citizens who allegedly aided the companies' trafficking efforts by operating cryptocurrency wallets to transfer payments.
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Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the indictments are part of a larger effort to target organizations fueling the deadly drug epidemic estimated to have killed over 100,000 Americans in 2023 alone.
"The global fentanyl supply chain, which ends with the deaths of Americans, often starts with chemical companies based in China," Garland said in a statement. "In order to break this critical link in the fentanyl supply chain, the Justice Department has aggressively investigated and prosecuted these companies."
Fentanyl can be up to 50 times more potent than heroin and can be lethal even in very small doses.
The indicted companies were located across China in cities that included Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. They are "now out of business" following the federal probe, which prosecutors said was conducted with the support of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.
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Reach Nora Mishanec: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com
Oct 27, 2024
Nora Mishanec
Breaking & Enterprise Reporter
Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle breaking news and enterprise reporter. She joined the paper in 2020 as a Hearst fellow and returned in 2022 after a stint at The Houston Chronicle.
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analysis of article text
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prohibitionist
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prohibition_agency
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drugwar_propaganda
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legalization
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drug_reformer
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reform_referenda
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cannabis
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stimulant
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narcotic
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hallucinogen
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propaganda analysis
| st:0.01 fo:0 s:0 d:0 c:0.03 db:0.167 a:0.28 m:0.12 t:0.81 (f) |
text of article used for CRITICAL ANALYSIS, under FAIR USE provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107, et al.
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(video)
EXP - explicit prohibition propaganda (explicit_propaganda)
GRP - hated group (propaganda_theme1)
MAD - madness, violence, illness (propaganda_theme2)
SOC - survival of society (propaganda_theme3)
USE - gateway, use is abuse (propaganda_theme4)
KID - children (propaganda_theme5)
WAR - demonize, war, epidemic (propaganda_theme6)
TOT - total prohibition (propaganda_theme7)
DIS - dissent opposed (propaganda_theme8)
