The indictments mark the first time the U.S. has sought to prosecute any of the Chinese companies responsible for manufacturing precursor chemicals used to make the painkiller.
The companies at the heart of the three separate indictments are accused of selling precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which in turn has flooded the U.S. with the drug.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced the unsealing of an indictment against the China-based chemical company Hubei Amarvel Biotech, along with its executives Qingzhou Wang, 35, Yiyi Chen, 31, and Fnu Lnu, also known as Er Yang, with fentanyl trafficking, precursor chemical importation, and money laundering offenses.
"Fentanyl poses a singular threat, not only because the smallest doses can be lethal, but because fentanyl does not occur in nature.
In the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors announced the unsealing of two more indictments against three other Chinese companies and individuals accused of conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl in the U.S.
Persons:
Antony Blinken, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Qingzhou Wang, Yiyi Chen, Fnu Lnu, Er Yang, Joaquin, El, Guzman, Lisa Monaco, Blinken, Wang, Chen, Yang, Sarah N, Lynch, Luc Cohen, David Brunnstrom, Chizu Nomiyama, Angus MacSwan
Organizations:
WASHINGTON, U.S . Justice, U.S, Hubei Amarvel Biotech, Justice Department, Embassy, Global Coalition, Administration, of, U.S . Prosecutors, Hebei Sinaloa Trading, Thomson
Locations:
United States, China, Washington, Sinaloa, Mexico, Manhattan, Hubei, cryptocurrency, Los Angeles, Honolulu , Hawaii, New York, of New York, Hebei Sinaloa, U.S