US brings first charges against Chinese entities over fentanyl ‘precursors’

US federal prosecutors have filed the first indictments against Chinese companies and nationals for allegedly trafficking chemicals used to produce fentanyl into the country.

The Department of Justice announced charges on Friday against four China-based companies and eight Chinese nationals, two of whom have been arrested, for “knowingly” manufacturing, marketing, selling and supplying precursor chemicals for the production of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that has been linked to thousands of deaths.

Lisa Monaco, deputy US attorney-general, said the indictments break “new ground by attacking the fentanyl supply chain at its origin”. 

The DoJ has made its fight against fentanyl a priority as Washington seeks to stop a deadly crisis over the drug, which is the leading cause of death for Americans aged between 18 and 45.

In the past, fentanyl was shipped directly to the US from China. But that has shifted, and Mexican cartels now largely control supply, importing the “precursor” chemicals used to make the drug and then shipping the finished product across the border.

The DoJ is “not only going after the leaders of the cartels, their drug and gun traffickers, their money launderers, security forces and clandestine lab operators”, said Merrick Garland, US attorney-general. “It also includes stopping the Chinese chemical companies that are supplying the cartels with the building blocks they need to manufacture deadly fentanyl”.

During the probes, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than 200kg of precursor chemicals, a quantity that could contain enough lethal fentanyl doses to kill 25mn individuals.

“This is the unprecedented threat we are dealing with: synthetic man-made chemicals advertised on social media, co-ordinated through encrypted communications, paid for in cryptocurrency, shipped as powders,” said Anne Milgram, DEA administrator. 

The DoJ alleged the defendants circumvented customs to ship the chemicals to the US and Mexico and received payments in cryptocurrency.

The three indictments threaten to complicate a nascent thaw in ties after US secretary of state Antony Blinken met China’s president, Xi Jinping, and other officials last weekend for talks aimed at stabilising the turbulent US-China relationship, including discussions about fentanyl.

After meeting Blinken, Xi said the two countries had made some “progress”, in comments that were echoed by the top US diplomat.

US President Joe Biden also said the countries were “on the right trail”, although he later raised eyebrows by calling Xi a “dictator” at a campaign fundraiser in California, which prompted some Chinese officials to question whether he is sincere about wanting to improve ties.

People familiar with the situation said Beijing has told the US it is only willing to address the fentanyl issue if Washington lifts various punitive measures imposed over the past few years.

Monaco said the US had “urged [China] to address the serious problem of illicit synthetic drug production and trafficking. We renew that call today”.