Justice Department Charges Chinese Chemical Manufacturers, Executives with Fentanyl-Related Crimes

The Justice Department filed eight additional indictments against several China-based chemical manufacturing companies and employees that were found to be complicit in the U.S. fentanyl epidemic, attorney general Merrick Garland announced Tuesday.

The U.S. intends to prosecute 28 individuals and entities, three of which are based in Canada, for selling the precursor chemicals necessary to illegally produce and distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other synthetic opioids. Fentanyl, a drug that is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, is responsible for much of the drug-overdose epidemic in America.

“We know that the global fentanyl supply chain, which ends with the deaths of Americans, often starts with chemical companies in China,” Garland said in a statement. “The United States government is focused on breaking apart every link in that chain, getting fentanyl out of our communities, and bringing those who put it there to justice.”

The new charges constitute a second wave of prosecutions against Chinese chemical manufacturing companies and nationals after the first three indictments were announced in June. The initial indictments were the first-ever criminal charges of their kind to be filed by the Justice Department.

The U.S. brought both sets of charges against Chinese companies and nationals allegedly connected to the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, several months after the cartel’s leaders were first indicted.

With China as a primary supplier, Mexican cartels continue to illegally smuggle fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the U.S., especially across the southern border where illegal immigration remains at an all-time high.

Garland reportedly visited Mexico City on Wednesday with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss mutual cooperation with the Mexican government and military in targeting cartels and the flow of fentanyl.

In 2022 alone, fentanyl poisoning led to over 70,000 deaths, or 68 percent of the more than 107,000 total deaths caused by drug overdose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco vowed the Justice Department “will not rest until we have rid our communities of this poison.”

The eight recent indictments were unsealed in the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, where the alleged fentanyl trafficking and related crimes took place.