Around April 3, 2023, Hubei Jingao published a “product news” on its website, introducing several fentanyl precursors, and the article mentioned that their factory provided transportation services through a company located in Mexico . The article showed photos of fentanyl precursors and Hubei Jing’ao’s business card. (Screenshot of the indictment)
[The Epoch Times, June 24, 2023](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Cai Rong) The U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration announced on June 23 that a multinational investigation exposed a Chinese chemical company and its executives who were suspected of shipping drugs to the U.S. Precursor chemicals used in large quantities to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues. Two executives were arrested in the United States a few days ago. They were charged with trafficking fentanyl, importing chemical precursors and money laundering, and faced a maximum penalty of life in prison.
On June 23, 2023, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Williams (Damian Williams, center) and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland held a press conference in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) On May 5, the Drug Enforcement Administration retrieved a shipment of fentanyl precursor compounds from Hubei Jing’ao Company from a warehouse near Los Angeles, California. Wang and Chen explained in an encrypted group chat that the shipment was sent to California because New York strictly inspected the precursors. (Screenshot of the indictment) On May 5, the Drug Enforcement Administration took out fentanyl precursor compounds shipped by Hubei Jing’ao Company from a warehouse near Los Angeles, California. Wang and Chen explained in an encrypted group chat that the shipment was sent to California because New York strictly inspected the precursors. (Screenshot of the indictment) On May 5, the Drug Enforcement Administration took out fentanyl precursor compounds shipped by Hubei Jing’ao Company from a warehouse near Los Angeles, California. Wang and Chen explained in an encrypted group chat that the shipment was sent to California because New York strictly inspected the precursors. (Screenshot of the indictment) Hubei Jingao Biotechnology Company sent invoices for these precursor chemicals. (Screenshot of the indictment)
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and can kill as little as 2 milligrams, is now the leading cause of death in the United States for people ages 18 to 49. Fentanyl analogs are similar in chemical composition and effects to fentanyl, but may be more potent and deadly than fentanyl. Fentanyl and its analogs have devastated communities across the United States and fueled an ongoing opioid epidemic that will kill at least 105,263 Americans between February 2022 and January 2023 alone .
The defendants are Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co., Ltd, a chemical manufacturer based in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and the company’s CEO, Qingzhou Wang, marketing Manager Yiyi Chen (transliteration) and sales representative Er Yang (transliteration).
According to the indictment, Hubei Jing’ao publicly advertised online that it was shipping fentanyl precursor chemicals to the U.S. and Mexico, where drug cartels operate clandestine laboratories that synthesize fentanyl on a large scale and distribute the deadly fentanyl to all of America.
Through its website and many other online stores, Hubei Jing’ao targeted precursor chemical customers in Mexico, promoting fentanyl precursors as “hot sale in Mexico”; guaranteeing “100% stealth shipping” abroad; and published documents on Hubei Jing’ao’s shipment of chemicals to Culiacan, the home of the Sinaloa drug cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel, one of the major drug trafficking organizations in the Western Hemisphere, has imported large amounts of fentanyl into the United States in recent years.
Hubei Jing’ao also worked to prevent law enforcement from banning shipments of its precursor chemicals. Hubei Jing’ao, for example, touted the company’s ability to use deceptive packaging — such as claiming that packages contained dog food, nuts, or motor oil — to ensure “safe” delivery to the U.S. and Mexico.
Undercover agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration found in their investigation that Hubei Jing’ao and its executives had shipped more than 200 kilograms of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl and its analogues from China to the United States in just eight months . They shipped these precursors to the United States with the intention of using the chemicals in the production of fentanyl and its analogues in New York, and they agreed to continue supplying many “tons” (a ton equals 1,000 kilograms) of fentanyl precursors, although they Americans are known to have died after consuming fentanyl made from these chemicals.
For example, on November 17, 2022, a secret informant of the Drug Enforcement Administration (codenamed CS1) wrote to Yang through an encrypted communication program, saying: “You know I am making fentanyl” and “not safe.” Yang replied, “I know.” On December 1, 2022, Yang wrote to CS1 that you would be “satisfied with our product” and that you “can synthesize fentanyl.” After receiving the cryptocurrency payment, Hubei Jing’ao sent 2 kilograms of fentanyl precursors from China to New York, along with 893.6 grams of methamphetamine precursor methylamine.
In March 2023, Wang and Chen personally met with the boss of CS1, who was actually another secret informant of the Drug Enforcement Administration (codenamed CS2). During the meeting, Wang and Chen discussed Hubei Jing’ao’s supply of tons of fentanyl precursors to New York to manufacture fentanyl for CS1 and CS2. After CS2 said he wanted a different formula to make fentanyl, and that several U.S. clients (who smoked fentanyl) had died, Wang and Chen said they had “many clients in the U.S. and Mexico” who could make fentanyl. Teny Productions provides technical assistance.
After the meeting, Hubei Jingao and others planned to sell 210 kilograms of fentanyl precursors in exchange for cryptocurrency. On April 10 this year, CS2 and Wang Chen said in a video call that 210 kilograms of fentanyl precursors will be used to manufacture 50 to 55 kilograms of fentanyl—this amount contains about 25 million doses of fatal doses.
In May of this year, Hubei Jingao shipped the goods to the United States. On May 5, the Drug Enforcement Administration retrieved a shipment of precursors from a warehouse near Los Angeles, California. Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of precursor chemicals to fentanyl analogs. Defendant Yang explained in an encrypted group chat with CS1, CS2, Wang and Chen, “New York has been strictly inspecting the precursors of the ‘final product’ some time ago, so for safety reasons, the shipment was sent to California this time.”
By June, Wang and Chen met with CS2 again to discuss a multi-ton dose of the fentanyl precursor chemical. Wang and Chen also discussed the need for additional measures to prevent shipments from being detected and intercepted “because recently the U.S. government … has uncovered some Mexican syndicates and traced them back to China” and the U.S. government has discovered that “our competitors in China , which is bad news for us.”—Here they refer to the fentanyl-related charges filed in April in the Southern District of New York, including the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel and certain former Chinese-based Body Chemicals Company Executive Defendant.
Wang and Chen, both Chinese nationals, were deported from Fiji on June 8 this year and subsequently arrested by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The two were arraigned in Honolulu federal court on June 9, and the case has been transferred to the federal court for the Southern District of New York. Another Chinese citizen, Yang Er, is still at large.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the indictment unsealed today is the first step in the fight against fentanyl. “We’re targeting the beginning of the fentanyl supply chain: the Chinese manufacturers of the raw material chemicals used to make fentanyl. We’re suing a Chinese precursor chemical company today, and that’s not all. We’ve charged and arrested some People who work at the company, including a company executive and a marketing manager. American handcuffs are placed on them. They will receive justice in American courts.”
35-year-old Wang Qingzhou and 31-year-old Chen Yiyi have been imprisoned. If they are convicted of “conspiracy to traffic fentanyl”, the minimum mandatory sentence is 10 years and the maximum sentence is life imprisonment; “conspiracy to import fentanyl” meth precursor chemicals with intent to manufacture fentanyl” carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; the charge of importing methamphetamine precursor chemicals carries a maximum sentence of 10 years; and the charge of money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Responsible editor: Sun Yun#