The Justice Department on Friday announced the arrest of two individuals and the unsealing of three indictments in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes related to fentanyl production, distribution, and sales resulting from precursor chemicals.
These indictments represent the first prosecutions to charge China-based chemical manufacturing companies and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) nationals for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States, according to officials.
Specifically, the indictments allege the defendants knowingly manufactured, marketed, sold, and supplied precursor chemicals for fentanyl production in the United States, violating federal law.
During these investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 200 kilograms of fentanyl-related precursor chemicals, which could contain enough deadly doses to kill 25 million Americans.
Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
Fentanyl and its analogs have devastated communities across the United States and fuel the ongoing overdose epidemic, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently estimated killed approximately 110,000 Americans in 2022.
Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49. Fentanyl analogs, similar in chemical makeup and effect to fentanyl, can be even more potent and lethal than fentanyl.