US files first-ever charges against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers

The US Justice Department on Friday filed criminal charges against four Chinese chemical manufacturing companies and eight individuals.

This is over allegations they illegally trafficked the chemicals used to make fentanyl - a highly addictive painkiller that has fueled the opioid crisis in the United States.

The indictments mark the first time the US has sought to prosecute any Chinese companies responsible for manufacturing precursor chemicals used to make the painkiller.

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu condemned the move as "a well-planned entrapment operation by the US side, which seriously infringed upon the legitimate rights of relevant enterprises and individuals."

He said such "long-arm jurisdiction" would create more obstacles for China-US-counter-narcotics cooperation.

The move came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who made the first visit to China in five years, said he had made clear that Washington needs much greater Chinese cooperation to stem the flow of fentanyl.

During his visit, the two sides agreed to stabilise their intense rivalry so it did not veer into conflict but failed to produce any breakthrough.

The mood quickly soured again after US President Joe Biden referred to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator on Tuesday.

Precursor chemicals

The companies at the heart of the three separate indictments are accused of selling precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which has flooded the US with the drug.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced an indictment against China-based Hubei Amarvel Biotech and its executives Qingzhou Wang, 35, Yiyi Chen, 31, and Fnu Lnu, also known as Er Yang.

They were indicted with fentanyl trafficking, precursor chemical importation, and money laundering offences.

In the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors announced two more indictments against three other Chinese companies and individuals accused of conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl.

Prosecutors said the companies - including one called Hebei Sinaloa Trading Co - advertised precursor chemicals on social media in Mexico and the US and used false customs forms and mislabeled packages to ship the chemicals by boat and air.

Two months earlier, the justice department charged leaders of the Sinaloa cartel with running a fentanyl trafficking operation fueled by Chinese chemical companies, including three sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the onetime cartel leader now imprisoned in the US.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the cases "break new ground by attacking the fentanyl supply chain at its origin."

"Fentanyl poses a singular threat, not only because the smallest doses can be lethal, but because fentanyl does not occur in nature. It is entirely man-made."

Global coalition

Also on Friday, Blinken announced he would convene a virtual ministerial meeting on July 7 of dozens of countries and international organisations to launch a Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.

The aim would be to unite countries "in a concerted effort to prevent the illicit manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs, identify emerging drug trends, and respond effectively to their public health impacts," he said.

The justice department said undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sources posing as fentanyl manufacturers met with Wang and Chen earlier this year and agreed to buy 210kg of fentanyl precursors for payment in cryptocurrency.

The DEA retrieved the chemicals from a Los Angeles warehouse in May.

Wang and Chen were arrested by DEA agents on June 8 and ordered detained in Honolulu, Hawaii, until they can be transported to New York to appear before the judge handling the case. Yang remains at large.

- Reuters