Illegal fentanyl gang boss faces execution
XINGTAI: A court in China convicted and sentenced to death on Thursday a man accused of trafficking fentanyl to the United States after a joint investigation with US law enforcement agencies.
The case, involving nine defendants, was a rare example of cooperation against a surge in fentanyl-related deaths that American officials, including President Donald Trump, have blamed directly on China’s lax enforcement and even complicity in fuelling a drug epidemic on US streets. The man sentenced to death, Liu Yong, led an illicit network of labs that produced and shipped packages of fentanyl to
American users who placed orders online through a dealer simply known as “Diana”, according to the Chinese and American officials.
A judge in Xingtai, a city in Hebei province about 220 miles (354 kilometres) south of Beijing, sentenced Liu to death after detailing a broad conspiracy to manufacture and smuggle fentanyl that evaded China’s strict controls on pharmaceutical production.
Liu’s death sentence was suspended for two years, leaving open the possibility that it could be commuted to life in prison. Eight other co-defendants were also sentenced, including distributors and online sellers. They received sentences ranging from six months in prison to life.
The case started with an arrest by the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Orleans in August 2017, leading to an international investigation into a sprawling underground production network that prosecutors said Liu orchestrated. The network included one lab and two distribution centres in Shanghai and the neighbouring province, Jiangsu. They were shut down, and 12kg of fentanyl was seized as part of the investigation, according to the officials and the court’s ruling.
“The successful outcome of this case, especially the heavy sentences to the main criminals and others, fully demonstrates the position and determination of the Chinese government to severely punish fentanyl-related crimes,” Yu Haibin, deputy director of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, said at a news conference in Xingtai after the court’s sentencing hearing.
He was joined by diplomats from the US Embassy, underscoring China’s eagerness to show it was cooperating with US law enforcement to combat the fentanyl scourge.